Dynasty
by EvieVixen
Summary: People often asked how Natsu became a Shinigami, because when they saw her, it was all a waggling tongue of excuses, forced compliance, and a forgetful memory that anyone could see. That or she was normally napping away; under the desk, in the trees, etc. It's the wrong question. It's why; an answer lying under the molten heat of the summer sun. Companion story to Building a Home.
1. Author's Note

Welcome to _Dynasty_! This is a companion piece to _Building a Home_. It's not necessary to have read _Building a Home_ as the protagonist is completely different and the story line as well. However, the OC from Building a Home does make an appearance and the story lines are intertwined in a way which will make sense as you read _Dynasty_. Either way, if you have any interest please check out _Building a Home_ as well. Please leave any comments/reviews that you want, or you can message me privately. I'm always more than happy to hear from everyone.

"Some days it's hard to see/ If I was a fool or you a thief/ Made it through the maze to find my one in a million/And now you're just a page torn from the story I'm building/

And all I gave you is gone/ Tumbled like it was stone/ thought we built a dynasty that heaven couldn't shake/ thought we built a dynasty like nothing ever made/ thought we built a dynasty forever couldn't break up/

A scar I can't reverse/ And the more it heals the worse it hurts/ Gave you every piece of me, no wonder it's missing/ Don't know how to be close to someone so distant/

And all I gave you is gone/ Tumbled like it was stone/ Thought we built a dynasty that heaven couldn't shake/ thought we built a dynasty like nothing ever made/ thought we built a dynasty forever couldn't break up/

It all fell down. It all fell down. It all fell.

It all fell down. It all fell down. It all fell down.

It all fell down. It all fell down. It all fell down."

\- 'Dynasty' MIIA

AN: Kotomi Natsu, Tachibana Ayako, and Ayake Ichiyuko are original characters of my creation while the rest and the majority of the story, of course, belongs to Kubo Tite. I did, however, take a bit of creative license, such as prolonging and mixing up the timeline and creating a new events, to help further the story in my own way. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.


	2. Chapter 1

"You know, I didn't mention it but that –"

"It's fine." Yoruichi cut through already knowing where Kukaku was heading with her statement. "I've got someone on the inside that will help."

"Oh?" The woman let out a quivering smirk and raised an eyebrow as she tipped another cup of sake down her throat. "Can you trust them?"

"Of course…. So long as we don't interrupt her nap, I suppose."

Kukaku puffed a small bit of air in disbelief and her lips opened in something between suppressed amusement and tentative knowing. She tipped her head over the black cat that was still nursing its tail from the hard hold the orange boy had had on it, before tipping her head back over to the moon that had already risen high above them.

"You're sure she'll help out?"

Yoruichi tucked her head down and then followed through with the rest of her body as came to a lie down. Her gold eyes maneuvered over the dispossessed woman, who was still tucked slightly into her memories, and then back over to the night before them. "She's come through time and time again for Kisuke and me."

"That's good then… But will she really go against her captain? You know better than me how devoted Shinigami are."

"She's probably caught onto our plan with how information spreads around the Seireitei and Kisuke probably gave her a heads up too." Yoruichi tipped her head slightly and caught Kukaku's gaze. "She'll help out."

"So long as she's not napping?"

"Exactly."

Kukaku let out another snort at the idea, before raising out her last cup of sake to the bitter night. "You Shinigami have the oddest habits."

"I don't think you can really talk Kukaku-kun."

"Not sure what you're talking about Yoruichi."

* * *

Her eyes blinked open slightly from her spot on top of the roof and watched as the sky became brighter and brighter up ahead of her. There was the resounding patter of feet in her head and she heard the jostle against her thoughts but she stowed them away. With her legs crossed, she came until she was sitting upright on the tiles; as upright as the hunch in her shoulders and the need to prop her head up in the hand would allow. She let out a small huff as she made out the orb that was going to come hurtling towards the Shakonmaku.

"Che."

It had been just as she had thought would happen when she received a text from Kisuke. His texts were always so long and he put in more than enough inflections that she almost never read them. These however were unusually short in length even though they told the story of people passing through the dangai. He then sent one name over and she had to roll her eyes at how complicated the matter got in the course of three seconds and a text message. With that, he sent a final text of "glad you're going to help~", along with an obnoxious smiley face, and she stowed the cellphone away into her shihakusho so that she wouldn't feel like crunching it beneath her hands at his sudden imposition and authority over her.

She rolled out her shoulders as she finally straightened her back. Her two arms came down onto her knees and then she opened her palms face up to the sky. Her eyes came to a close for a minute as she concentrated her energy into the palms of her hand and then her fingers came curling in all except her pointer and middle fingers. Her thumbs came to overlap onto the curled fingers and she began to murmur out a small chant just beneath her breath.

"Minerals in the ground. Minerals of the air. Reducing flashes and blowing out flames." Her right arm came up and she passed it diagonally through the air with her palm down. "Shatter to dust. Disintegrate into air. Collect and rebind." Her left arm came underneath her right arm, so that her elbows were the only connecting point, with the palm of her left hand face up. "At the cross of arms and the pointed direction, unseat." Her mind's eye created the pipe bursting through the eye of the needle on the wall above her. "Battered rams come through needle thread. Undo."

Just above her the orb was landing into the needle point that she had cracked into the Shakonmaku, and she saw the swirl of the white spirit particles as they created a larger circle around the center as there was a broach. The two forces were at odds and then spokes came out and splinted the shield just a bit more as the penetrators began to overwhelm the spot. The massive amounts of energy began to twirl and wrap around until the shield was letting the ryoka through the gates.

She got up slowly from her seat and watched at the burst from the center and the four different directions the ryoka were going to take. Her head tipped over the side and then she put her finger into her ear as she continued to watch as the splintering began to fade out. "Gotta move now… Che, an' I jus' wantta nap."

She took up a slow amble as she began from the roof and then tapped onto the corridor. Her shoulders came up and over her body as she slunk away from her resting place. Behind her she knew the barrier was recollecting itself in the wake of its weakness. It wasn't a permanent hold after all. It was like putting a folded paper over a lock to just stop it for mere seconds before the metal crashed and broken through the thin slip. All other evidence was getting wiped away as it trailed away with time just like how the barrier was reforming.

She took in the new swirls of reiatsu as well that were picking up, and shook her head. Her thin fingers came up and scratched at her temple before moving over her hair. Then she proceeded to drop it back down into her pockets and took slumbering steps as she went.

 _Are you going to get me?_

 _Tha's too much work._

 _You're a pain._

 _Nah… Ya are._

Natsu slunk into her division after as long a time as she could make it. It was right as groups were leaving in a frenzy and the air about the whole of Seireitei was static. She felt her mouth pulling into something of her own grimace at the panic of movements and her fingers twitched just at the thought of having to join those that were moving out. She sunk her head down as she was trying to sneak away and into her quarters.

The tiny growl in her head began to become irremovable snickers, preening Natsu's skin the fine shocks of her environment. Her escape attempt had proven futile, particularly at the dark scoff that resounded through her head and the vision of rolling eyes. Natsu felt the impossibly hard aura of her captain coming around and weaving a net to entrap her. Her head ticked back slowly like the second hand of a clock, until over her shoulder she came face to face with one Unohana Retsu.

Unlike most anger or pressure technique, there were no spitting flames or quivering hairs of electricity. Unohana Retsu made intimidation tactics look like handing candy to a child and watching their gleeful laugh at receiving said candy with amusement and delight in a tight package of a motherly smile.

Her captain's eyebrows were raised nicely in a light look. Her eyes were closed with her bushels of eyelashes coming to sweep across her cheekbones. Natsu was sure that they were shooting daggers at her. It was made even clearer by the sudden sweat that came over her, particularly at the turn of her captain's lips and that easy smile on her face. There was, however, a dark shadow over most of the pale face that was not her captain's reiatsu but her very, creepy and slimy personality that could subtly crack fingers.

"Natsu-san where have you been? You missed the meeting."

Natsu let her objecting finger curl down slightly before she slunk around her own body and hunkered beneath the woman, with a thin grimace coming along her face. Although the height difference was night and day between them, with her captain standing much shorter than her, Natsu had nearly none of her presence. Her fingers trailed up to her head and held onto the back and she began to wave her hand about to swat at the air like it was a rag doll and she a cat, playing with its yarn.

"Got sleepy. Took a nap."

"Oh dear, that's not good at all."

Natsu blanched and found her teeth clanking against one another as she finally made that last turn of her body to take in the woman completely. Just beyond her shoulder was Isane-fukutaicho who was watching with a shaky smile on her face and closed eyes that expressed her deepest condolences. She made no moves to intervene as the captain took the tiniest half-step forward, and only continued clutching onto her clipboard. Isane gave Natsu a tiny shrug as if passing along 'it's your fault' and 'there's nothing I can do' in one go.

Natsu turned back to the forced kindness and then put her two arms up in a shrug. "Well, cap… I got ma sleep now, so I'll help ya."

"That's so wonderful Natsu-san." The presence wavered around the captain as she made a certain assessment of Natsu's defense and then it finally backed off with the woman opening her eyes and those deep blues taking her in. "There's been quite a lot of damage done at the eleventh division already. Squad 1 through 4 have been dispatched."

"So ya got it covered?"

"Not at all." Unohana's head tilted over to the side as she was watching the movements of the people. She then fastened back onto Natsu was a strong glance from her periphery. "Please be on standby and easy to contact, Natsu-san."

Natsu did a small shuffle step and then rolled her head over before slinking back on her way to the room. "Yeah." Her feet paused slightly and she was glad that when she turned her captain was still watching her. "Somethin' in the air, cap? Incense or somthin'?"

"Whatever do you mean Natsu?"

"Nah… Jus' ma head I guess."

Natsu shuffled her hands into her pockets and made her way over to her room. Once inside she slipped her hands into her folds and pulled out the small device, used to talk to Kisuke, taking a seat on the bed. Her room was nothing short of unimpressive. It was so unimpressive that it most times Natsu mistook it for some newbies room and not her's with a forty year-long residency in it. It held nothing but a mattress with a large window over it, a desk that had her med pack and her sword on it, and then a small closet.

The closet was actually just a square in the wall with a curtain that could be slide over it to cover the interior. The brownish curtain was pushed all the way across and scrunched into a slim ruffle of the fabric at the wall, and there was a clear visual of the stacks of clothing that she had. Only one shelf was taken up with a few other objects like a hairbrush and a small mirror that she used in the mornings. In the hanging space were a few more formal pieces, although they were really just collecting dust, and then a few sashes of different colors that had been gifted to her over the years.

Her eyes drifted away from the last bright pink that Rangiku had given to her and over to the only other object. It was half hidden by the shadows of the ceiling and the clothing with the light not quite reaching the air, and half unearthed to stare back at her. The glossy oak cherry wood shined out and there was a brass ring that covered up the rest of the image by casting its own darkness over the piece. Unconsciously her hands tightened as she stared at the piece with her face coming into an unusual lock of her lips.

Natsu let out a long sigh as she tossed onto her sheets, dumping the phone by her side, before tucking her hands beneath her head. Her eyes drifted closed for a moment before she felt that sharp voice awakening her again. She let out an outrageous retort as she stared into the ceiling at the grating in her head which was refusing to allow her to get to bed. It always barked down her ear only stopping when she was tucked safely into sleep, where even its claws couldn't reach through to get at her.

She came up in a flurry and she pandered at her hair until it was completely adjusted. She raked down at the strands until she made out the elastics and sliding them out. She brushed them through and then braided her strands through one another until she had one thick plait down her back. Then she loosened it up again, not appreciating the constriction on her head and hating the idea her blonde friend had tried to convince her of, and split it into her two ponytails.

Clambering from her bed she wandered up to her desk and re-checked her bag for the fortieth time in the past two days. One day spent making sure she could quietly slink them from the stores without anyone noticing and place extras into her pack. One day to reaffirm that she had everything that she could possibly need. Now her hand twisted over the contents, repositioning them, and tying them up so they wouldn't go sliding about.

Once it was safely on her back, she grabbed at her sword. It twisted and bent in her vision as she easily turned it about so her eyes could get at it from all angles. It was a normal katana length sword, with a burnt gold ribbon that was tied off at the hilt. Its guard was rectangular and had the smallest designs on it that told the story of her spirit; a sun at the top where the top of her hand would face, a lion on the side of her knuckles when she gripped tightly onto it, and a stream that cut through a desert making up the rest of the metal guard.

She placed the evenly weighted thing back on the table, before placing her two hands over it. With a small push of her reiatsu the sword disappeared and was sealed away from only her call. She took in the dust coating over her desk and swiped at it again, watching as the particles disappeared with a swirl and dance around the air before they settled back down.

Her hand moved over to her window with one tiny flick of her hands she was shooting through the air and leaving the fourth division far behind her. She'd get reprimanded by her captain for sure but the day was already slipping away from her and Natsu had never been very good at listening to rules after all. A huff of slow laughter left her as she took another bounce on a wall.

She peered up and over to her right as she took in the blinking gold eye that was glinting at her while they raced together. The cat was black in color with long whiskers coming from out its snout and its eyebrows. Its ears flicked every now and again, and it stretched long its lithe and slender frame as it made another jump over the rooftops with her. It moved in slightly closer until it leapt straight onto her shoulder and settled with its claws sinking in to her top.

"Natsu…. Long time no see." the deep voice went straight into her ears as the whiskers pranced along her face with the new proximity.

"Ya people are 'ruptin' ma nap, ya know?"

"Apologies then but we thank you for the help."

Her eyes darted off the side at the statement and she made a steady pound of her foot into the roof before they both went flying off into a more secluded area. Then she came into a squat, with her knees splayed more open than propriety would ever allow of a woman. Her arms dropped onto her knees and her elbows bent down so that her hands were dragging around her ankles. Her eyes came back to the cat that was in front of her, who was meandering closer towards her.

"Ya girl's up in tha tower."

Yoruichi nodded her head slowly and then nudged up along the hand until it was ruffling through her fur in a slow drag and then came to a lazy standstill on her back. "They just moved her?"

"Yup."

"Any movements?"

"Other than that? …. Nah." Her fingers tapped slightly and then made the distinct move to come and cradle her head as if it were the heaviest thing in the world. "Ya people good 'nough? They causin' a ruckus already. Got bitched by ma cap fo' it."

"I have two humans, one substitute, and a quincy. As well as a Shiba Ganju who just tagged along."

"Che… Sound's horrible."

Yoruichi let out a small snicker before coming to a seat right in front of the girl. Her eyes came down on her and there was that sheen of a sword darting through her which she tried to shadow off with that lazy haze that came from her napping. She had changed her hair again too, Yoruichi noted, from the stretch of fringe that cut a straight line across from her forehead and then the buzzcut that was on the sides to make something of a really flat Mohawk. She had two pale blonde strings of hair that went down along her back to her hips, and were kept separate by two small elastic bands. It was if she was trying to make weird ponytails but it was impossible to see unless one batch was over her shoulder. Otherwise it just created a long strip of blonde down her back.

"Natsu." The neckline of the girl's shihakusho ruffled a bit as she went about straightening it with her thin fingers. "I have a few more requests to make."

Her teeth glinted as her mouth came in the perpetually open state, and the indignant look that was almost teary settled quickly. Yoruichi was sure there was a small tirade going off in the shinigami's head about how she didn't want to lose her nap time any more than she already had. Then the eyes cut back to her and Yoruichi knew then that she had the attention she would need.

"There's a human girl with the quincy. I want you to go and greet them. Help direct them. If you run into the other human that'd be good but make them your priority. After that I want you to meet me when you're finished up with that."

"Tha' it?" She stuffed a finger into her ear and look at the cat. "Thought ya were gonna talk mo'."

The cat swiped at her ankle before finishing with a firm look. "I'll have something else for you to do when you get back to me."

"Ouch." The girl let out a tired whine as she poked at her wound while the cat was just hissing at the behavior. "Didn't need ta get so 'uffy… I was jus' sayin'."

"You already always 'just saying', Natsu."

"You're always so moody…. Fits ya 'pearance I guess."

They were already walking by this point; Natsu with her slow drag and Yoruichi with her precision cat trot. The girl was taller too, Yoruichi finally noticed, as she took another quick glance at the form beside her.

Natsu was almost like a walking skeleton if it wasn't for the tiny coating of skin and, perhaps muscle, over her. The ever slandering towards her posture that had it hunched over also prevented that fully formed image. In actuality, a skeleton almost looked more energetic than her. Her legs were long, and thinned out, reaching distances that it might take a child to cover in four or five steps, if she bothered to walk in anything more than her slump. She was mostly leg, but it was a bit hard to tell from the double sized shihakusho she was wearing over her frame, and her straight body type. Where many women had curves to help offset her body proportions and make it look more distinct, Natsu was just a thin line that trailed all the way up.

Actually, if Yoruichi recalled correctly, everything about the woman was just long. Her fingers were diffuse and spiny. Her fingernails capped them and demarcating them as fingers and not needles. Her arms, if not bent into her pockets, were dragged down by her sides to reach her hips. Her torso was shorter than her legs, but it was protracted and thin like the rest of her.

Even her face was long and thin, with clean, slinky eyebrows and only a small note of her cheekbones. Her teeth appeared longer in her mouth than they actually were because her top lip was much thinner than her bottom. That left the top row of white visible between the perpetual dash of boredom on her lips and her strange thought that it was just 'too hard to keep her mouth shut even though speaking takes up too much energy'. Even her smile was long when she finally decided to reveal that chesire grin that went from ear to ear and curled right at the tips of her lips.

Perhaps the only thing about her that wasn't long was her eyes. They were sunk deep into her face and always half-covered with her eyelids, but they were large and round. With how her face was it almost seemed that her eyes were far too large from the slimness of her face. They held probably the only extremely attractive feature on the girl which was the spotted, rusted, amber color of her eyes. It was a unique color that was freckled and easily swerved between an oakish red, dark brown and that pure, brilliant amber. Her eyes were made up of color just slightly darker color than the straight bronzed hairs on her head and her eyelashes.

The only other thing that had changed about the girl since last they met face to face, was the turquoise sash that she was wearing as a second belt over the standard white. The fabric still looked silken and smooth after the years, and was no doubt well kept under her ever belying nonchallant gaze.

"I gave ma cap a bit of a heads." Natsu nudged out and then popped her eyes down to the cat that was still close to her side. "Anyone else?"

"Whoever you think would help us, I suppose… Keep your eyes out."

"Sure. See ya."

Natsu gave a short flick over her shoulder as she took a sudden turn in the direction of her barricks. The tiny look over her shoulder saw to it that the cat had flashed away to prepare whatever other task it would be sending her on.

"Sucks."

 _It's the end, Natsu._

 _I jus' wanna sleep._

 _Are you truly sure about that?_

 _…_ _. Yer a pain._


	3. Chapter 2

"It's so strange to see a bird so far from its nest."

Natsu tilted her head over to see the warm voice was matching the captain she supposed it was. Kyoraku Shunsui was a tall, relatively muscled man, who wore his shihakusho like he did a set of pajamas. The top was opened down to about his mid stomach, showing off the abundance of hair that signified what the rest of his body was presumed to look like. He kept a baby blue sash around his waist and tied into a loopy bow to hold the uniform together, which matched with the blue bobble in his hair that helped to keep it fastened back in a loose ponytail.

On top of the signature white haori of a captain was a pink, flowery woman's kimono that was significantly shorter than his long body, particularly as it was stretched to reach over the breadth of his shoulders. It played well with the hair pins that stuck out from the knot of fabric that was his hair bobble, and oddly enough even the sun hat that he was constantly dawning.

He tried to play off his immense masculinity by adding all the accouterments that helped to style of a woman. Yet it didn't really work because he was already well known as a bane to women who wanted peace in their lifestyles. Additionally for a fun, peace loving man, he certainly had the greatest tendency to act horribly competitive with his own gender which was a deeply masculine trait in Natsu's mind.

He was meandering up like he always did no matter the time. There was his normally insightful but droopy look in his face and that pleasant smile that seemed to hold back on the words he had running around in his head, as he was watching the scene before him. He sunk his hands into the fabric of his sleeves and then peered over her shoulder with childlike curiosity as he surveyed the patient and her rescue attempt.

"What happened to this one?"

"Ya know… Injured."

He chuckled somewhat and then flopped onto his side as Natsu continued on with her stapling and normal measures. Ikkanzaka Jirobo was finally noted by his lieutenant, Iba, to be missing. She, along with the rest of fourth division, had received the report to go out in search for him and do what was necessary hours ago. However, the work that needed to be done at the eleventh division had everyone running a bit slower than normal. She was going to bypass the message completely in order to keep her eyes out for the ryoka that she was supposed to find, but she had stumbled upon him. She had to give out a swift reply after that, given the shinigami's condition.

 _Damn quincy leavin' marks._

 _You won't be telling anyone?_

 _Too much effort._

 _You're a pain, Natsu._

"Whatta ya need?"

"Oh nothing." The man was probably waving his hand in his sunken position. "I just got curious at what you were doing."

Her hand pressed down at the small trace of reishi in the man's pressure points. The quincy had very good aim to be able to cut off the shinigami's spiritual vein that ran in a straight current through the center of the sternum and the stomach. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she slide her hand over the top spot seeing if she could extract anything, but it was useless as the shine came back over the spot. Instead, she swiftly made due with getting the spot cleaned and covered. Before moving along to his hand and helped to restructure the area with kaido.

"You're bald friend is in the infirmary."

"Kaku? Supposed he was, gettin' beat like tha'." She fell back onto her hands and looked over at the captain who was lounging. "Ya really gonna nap where some half-dead guy is?"

"I'll move when you do."

Natsu let out a small annoyed noise before slamming her hand down onto the victim's body and it disappeared beneath her digits. The captain raised an eyebrow slightly at that before trailing his eyes up at her as she began to collect her mess. She responded with a small feral smirk and then an innocent shrug as her forearms came up and then her palms flapped open to face the sky.

"Where'd you learn that Natsu-chan?"

There was a small spark of reiatsu starting to bubble and the two looked over at the where it had come from. There was the undeniable knowledge that it was Abarai fighting with the way that the red seemed to siphon off into the air and try to cut a clean ring to warn off anyone else from coming. The blue was a mysterious source but everyone who had been awake for more than a few hours in the past two days knew that it was one of the ryoka at work. Slowly, there was a peeling back of the ryoka's identity as the new reiatsu was becoming more and more familiar to the senses. Natsu had to narrow her eyes at how evenly matched it seemed, but more importantly how quickly the blue seemed to be growing from that smaller speck only a day ago when it had come crashing in.

"Young ones, huh?"

"I ain't ol', geezer."

"I'm still pretty youthful myself you know." Kyoraku whined out as he slapped his hands onto Natsu's shoulders. "You really should eat more Natsu-chan. Has Retsu-san been over working you?"

She perked an eyebrow at this and gave him her normally bland look with her eyes half lidded and her top teeth showing. "Ya kiddin', righ'?"

For as odd as the pairing was they were pretty similar which always rubbed Natsu the wrong way. They both detested work so much they did everything to get out of it, and they both expelled too much energy trying to get away from it that they were exhausted by the end of the day, aiding their need for a good spot of sleep. The captain imbibed in too much alcohol, by design she was sure, but there was a sharpness to his eyes that reflected exactly who she was back at her. They ran into each other minimally, mainly when he was at the fourth division with Ukitake or when they stumbled upon one another's napping place, but it was enough to know what the other was about. It was enough to know that Natsu had to squirm, if not slink, out of his sight which deliriously saw through most.

"Ol' man decide wha' he gonna do 'bout em?"

"I'm sure Yama-jii will come to that decision soon enough."

"Good… I'mma gettin' 'hausted jus' thinkin'." Natsu finished wrapping up all her work into her bag and then slipped it back onto her shoulders, before coming to a stand and slinking her hands into her pockets. "Ma head's been hurtin' since I woke up."

"That's no good, Natsu-chan. You should take better care of yourself." Kyoraku pandered easily and placed his hands into his sleeves after standing with her.

Their height difference was a few inches with her being marvelously tall for a woman at 5'8" and him at a lofty 6'3", and it was always easy for the man to snatch at her shoulders or pat her head when he wanted to be more childish. They walked at the same pace too, most of the time, because although they had long legs with their height, they both hated getting anywhere fast, and their steps were always short. It made for a good meandering partner though.

"Yo cap." She saw the tilt in his head as he literally leaned his ear to her words. "Ya feel somethin' in the air?"

"Not really."

"Ya sleep been uneasy?"

"Not at all."

"Sucks."

The man came to a stop and titled his head down so that she could barely make out the dark chocolate that was his eyes. He took his time to zone in on every piece of her before coming back up to her face. She saw the small narrow in his eyes and the glint that he tried so hard to hide behind his games, bringing out the ever protective man that shielded what he could with his two large arms. It was only made apparent by the small protective wall he tried to create around her with his shoulders and the hunch in his stature. More likely, he was trying to become a wall so that she couldn't go running away with his ever so righteous duty towards the Gotei 13.

"Are you not sleeping well Natsu-chan?"

"Tol' ya cap… My head's been hurtin'." She made out the steady pillar of his eyes and the way they quaked just a bit at her slow reiteration of her condition. "It's 'mazin' ain't it? Ryoka sudd'ly show up righ' when a crim'nal ge's a sentence she don't deserve."

"You've never been interested in politics before."

"Nah, I ain't. Too much thinkin' fo' me… Jus' curious ain't it? Wonder how much history gets pushed ova ours heads ya know?"

He came to his full height and looked down at her over his nose. There was a quick shake in the brown before it was hooded over again with that ever present doppy look. He had shut his eyes and tilted his head with that joyful smile back on his face. He was letting out a few hums as if he was considering her words as the rest of his body continued on the walk that they were going on.

"You shouldn't make yourself sick thinking about stuff like that."

She raised her eyebrow at the sharpened sword that was at her jugular. If she took a step forward it would be slashing through her, and if she took a step back she'd be up against the wall. She'd be a victim of Kyoraku's shift away from the topic either way, though the edge in his words and the literal smack that he was sending at her face was unlike him.

She merely shrugged as if she had no idea what he was talking about and twisted her head to ignore the small flush of actual energy in her system. "Jus' sayin' cap… How much ya know?"

"How much do you know, Natsu-chan?"

There was a sudden crash of reiatsu and Natsu's body reverberated from it. Abarai had sunk down in a large flare of two reiatsus bursting into one another. There was a sweep of air as if was still reacting from the push of the energy near the Senzaikyu, and came around cradled out around her body. She hadn't noticed that they had been walking this way in the first place, but now with the preponderance of air that was trying to rush her away she could feel how close.

"Gotta go, cap." She gave him nothing but a twitch of her head before moving forward over towards the shattered area. "I'mma hopin' ya don't get too caught up in all this."

"How lovely to receive your well wishes, Natsu-chan."

She paused slightly in her step and looked over at the man who was still tilting his hand to shield his face from the running air. His one brown eye latched onto her frame and she batted at the soft look in them. "Keep tha' look cap… Ain't me should be receivin' it."

She used her slow walk until she was further away from him and knew that the paces were enough to get him to continue his own walk away. She settled into a shunpo over to the area, where she stopped just on the top of the wall in a crouch. Her eyes set on the three figures heading down into the sewers. One was Hanataro that much she knew from the struggle to keep up with the larger compatriot that was hefting an orange male over his shoulder.

She rolled down over her knees and tumbled through the air before landing upright. Her bag came swinging off her shoulder as she began to meander her way up to the fallen man. His long tresses of red vipers were strewn all along the floor, while some fell over his forehead covering up the weird eyebrows he had given himself. There was a horizontal slash along the right side of his body cutting through the fabrics of his shihakusho top that was frayed out and had small strands dipping in to the pools of blood. There was a near gurgle like sound as she saw another push of blood come up from the wound and splutter over.

"Abarai-fukutaicho!"

She turned her head over to see a series of Shinigami heading her way. Her eyes fell only on Izuru as he was jogging his way up. The one long blonde fringe flopped up and down and she made out the arch of his shoulders as he picked up his pace to come nearer, most likely because she hadn't started work yet. His thin fingers came out almost immediately as his slim body came near her. There he grappled and clenched around her bicep as he stared down at his friend with flickering eyes as he was trying to put all the pieces together.

"Senpai?" He turned up to her and she narrowed her eyes at the storm in his one visible eye and quickly brought her arm out of his grip to whack at his stomach. "Senpai?" came his next screech as he doubled over just slightly as the wind left his lungs. "What was that for?"

"Jus' wanted ta." She moved swiftly over to the group and watched as they assembled up a stretcher. It seemed now everyone knew at least to get him to a cleaner working area. "Ta tha tower. I'll stabilize 'im there 'fore transportin' him."

* * *

She let out a small huff as she took in the pale complexion of the man beneath her. Natsu continued to move her hands steadily across the wound at his side, infusing as much kaido around his wound that would latch onto his own reiatsu to help build up his healing capability. He had used far more power than she had assumed, which meant that Abarai's opponent, the holder of the blue reiatsu, was far beyond anyone's expectations or Abarai's capabilities. That ryoka had a firm foot into the realm of captaincy.

"We should really get him over to the fourth division, right?"

Natsu tucked her head a bit more firmly against her chest and bit down the retort. Hinamori Momo was the fukutaicho of the fifth division, and stood worrying her hands with her eyes drifting at every aspect of the scene but seeing none of it. She was a sweet girl, supposedly, that kept her hair up in a bun and had the nervous disposition of a caring grandmother. Her reiatsu was much the same letting out small wafts as if she was holding out a freshly baked cookie that was carrying along that scent right out of the oven.

She had the complete tendency to be just as ridiculously overbearing as a grandmother too, with her prone to tears disposition and weaker constitution. Natsu gritted her teeth at the thought that just above her was a girl that had faucets for eyes, especially if there was anything to tell by her tone.

"There's no need." Natsu narrowed her eyes down and jerked back to the moment as she continued to maneuver around the wound. "Throw him in jail."

Kuchiki Byakuya was a stern and cold man and was a captain in just the same way. He dominated the area, freezing it over with the smallest word from his lips at his low timber. She let out a small snort at the thought of carelessly leaving a patient with less than sufficient tending to his wound, and continued on her way. Her hand pulsed as she moved on to another section of the wound that was still wide open to her touch.

"Yo cap." The two fukutaichos whirled over to her as she raised her head over to the man that had spewed out righteous duty. Izuru hissed at her to change her tone but ignored him for meeting eyes with the slice of blackness that was ahead of hers. "Ever'one got diff'rent duty… And ya ain't as scary as ma cap so I suggest ya stop ya orders."

"Are you not following orders fourth division?"

"Ya goin' ta insult me know ma name." Natsu swiped at the sweat that was along her forehead and tapped down on the body of the unconscious man. "But I don't care if ya put 'im in jail… Jus' gonna get 'im stable s'all."

The man only turned and walked out the doors with Izuru stammering out an apology at the man, as if she had really insulted his person. It only left Natsu with an open mouth and bewildered look at the coldness that had washed through the room and left. Natsu never eye rolled because it was too much work to shift her features like that but the dead look of shock was always enough for people to interpret.

"Nice of ya to stick yaself out for yer comrade."

Natsu swiftly moved her gaze over to the hidden snake that was creeping out of the shadows in the room before continuing her administration on her patient. Ichimaru Gin was man constantly in a state of happiness, with a thin lipped smile always along his face and his eyes closed to mere slits so that no one could tell what color they were. From the tips of his hair down to the thin toes he always slithered everywhere he went. His body was snake like too with its skeletal frame that was bendy with his odd amount of strength and flexibility to situations. The presence he imbued by just being was like feeling the slither along the back and just about feeling the coil along the neck.

"Well, I got people ta call." Natsu shifted up and exited the room before she'd be left with that venom along her clothes. He raised the hairs along her arms every time, without him ever needing to speak a word.

She busied herself with fiddling with her robes as both Gin and Izuru made their way past her; the latter of which threw her a thin smile over his shoulder before paddling like a puppy to follow after the silver haired man. Her lips that were in their normal position, never moving to return Izuru's wane smile, tucked down at the corners as she watched the scene. Gin was his slither and Izuru was his tripping trot moved further away until even with her narrowed eyes she couldn't make out the dastardly display. The lion in her head paraded for a moment, letting out strong pants, before Natsu pulled out a small thin rod for her robes to quiet the voice in her head.

When on the field the fourth division used small communicators to stay in touch with one another. It worked essentially like a phone, except it was a thin and short metal piece with a tiny bulb in the middle that had a tiny little dot in the center of it. It was hooked with only other members and didn't interrupt with any other communicator frequency that other divisions might use during field operations. It was standard issue and a requirement to have on division four persons at all times, and the higher ups were the ones that kept them right by their ears during such situations as this.

"I's Natsu. Got Abarai wit' a level 4 down tha righ' side of 'is chest. Stable fer tha mos' part. Kuchiki wants 'im in jail."

Injuries were categorized from 0, being none, to a level 10, which was borderline dead. Anything above a five was a necessary rush, though, and the further up from the midway point the more people needed to help with the processes and the more time spent. Of course, it all got very grey once the wounds were somewhere in the seven to the nine range, with ten standing out very clearly from the rest.

Abarai's wound, while gnarly, was not too serious. His reiatsu was stable enough that the second phase of kaido could proceed. The wound itself had actually started the healing process, and had stopped bleeding out profusely with all the work she had already done on it. The fukutaicho would be able to stand a transportation and a shift in healer.

"Order received. We're sending transportation your way."

She let the button like object shuffle into her sleeves into the hidden pocket that she had sewed into it. Natsu had several hidden pockets all over her top to contain all her possessions because she'd get to lazy to carry around her bag and even if she was carrying it around it was too much of a hassle to slide it off and open it up. Instead she made little pockets that were easy to reach like the cellphone, which had started the idea in the first place, and the communicator that she needed. Sometimes she kept scraps of food, but that got a bit too messy and was just a pain to wash out stains.

She shuffled back indoors just to see the chibi captain slip out and collected up her bag instantly. "People are comin' wit' transport. Prob'ly finish off 'is treatment in tha cell."

"Thank you very much." Natsu turned her head over to see the small bow from the woman. "And thank you for stickin—"

"No need. Like I said, ever'one got diff'ent duty."

Momo shuffled her steps and crossed her wrists and then interwove her fingers so that her thumbs were facing her legs. Her arms hung down at the front of her body and there was a kink in her shoulders as they hunkered down. Natsu saw the heavy sigh leaving the girl, with the way her chest rose up and her head swayed with the breath, before she ever heard the exhale. Brown eyes flickered up from underneath lashes and then looked back down at the ground where her feet shuffled again.

"This is dangerous, huh?" She whispered out with another twist of her hands.

Natsu petered to the side and cursed her luck at having to make small talk with this girl. She turned her head back slowly and gave a small shrug. "Ya a Shinigami. Happens tha' things 're dang'rous sometimes."

"I guess." The girl's eyes had swept over to the side and her head had fallen that much more to the ground.

With a hand on her forehead, Natsu found herself doing the complete opposite. Her hand came up and nearly knocked her head backwards so that she was looking up at the roof of the tower. Her mind roved over and assessed the dreary tone that edged along morose. Long thin fingers scratched at her scalp and then dropped back down. She slipped her hands away as she dropped her head back down and hunkered into her frame as was her usual.

"Buck up… Yer attitude is makin' me sleepy an' it's annoyin'." Brown eyes shot up towards her and Natsu's freckled ones roved immediately over to the side. She casually flicked her hand through the air before stuffing them both into her pockets. "So wha' if i's scary an' dang'rous, only one way outta it."

Momo watched with her mouth slightly open and the words caught up in her throat as the division four member slunk out of the tower and disappeared. Her hands slowly unwove turning into loose fists and she turned her gaze over to the already flushed skin of her old friend. It was a good thing to see that redness returning to his face, and spoke to the actual care that the medic had placed into the treatment of her patient, unlike her rather crude personal behavior.

Her eyes flashed back over to where the woman had disappeared and she supposed that Izuru had been right to trust her, even though her countenance had been anything but reliable. From the heaviness of her shoulders, the way the top seemed to slope off of her form, and the deadpan of her face with those long teeth appearing from her opened lips, there wasn't much too imposing about the women. Momo had to immediately recant on the idea when she saw Izuru's ease but now the thought seemed little more than a dream as she looked at her healing friend.

She blinked down at the fists of her hands and stared at the quizzically as if seeing the limbs for the first time. They weren't trembling anymore, and Momo lifted up one right before her eyes as she stared at the flexed digits. A soft smile came across her face as she stared at the steadiness of it and momentary peace that had somehow settled over her.


	4. Chapter 3

"Stop." They were attempting to scuttle around the corner in a stampede of back tracking steps. "Saw ya 'lready."

Natsu waited and took a crouch up against the wall with arms over her knees again. Her head tilted back and rested against her shoulders as she saw the crescent moon beginning to loom in the sky, and those shades of fusion pink and orange were draining from the sky again. Stars were blinking away already, but they were coming much more gem like as they blanket of dark, dark blue-black was wrapping around them in their night time hug.

As the night was coming down people were doing their own scurrying about as some were taking up the night watch and others were going back to recharge for the next day. She had time for neither it seemed as her eyes gave a dreary blink and she let out a loud yawn.

Her head turned as she felt some scuttle again by her and heard the shift of foot-steps. Two heads popped out from the corner. The first was a scrupulous looking man with a piercing blue gaze behind his glasses which were flashing underneath the lights. His black hair was parted in the middle and framed by two long strips along his face that stopped just a bit past his jaw. His mouth came into a firm scowl and he was immediately drawing out his bow to point at her as he was sliding out from the corner hiding the woman for just a moment.

The orange haired girl came out just after him, peering around the drawn back arm that was forming an arrow. She had two large curious brown eyes and a puckered pair of lips as she was glancing about at Natsu with rapt innocent attention. She had a head full of orange brown, long hair that was shifted just slightly to the right of her face with a small bit of fringe coming down. There were two blue clips on either side of her head.

"Inoue-san, I said not to come out." The man jibbed from his determined posture. Then his head thrust back to her and he raised the bow just that much more. "Who are you?"

"Yoruichi."

"Huh?" Echoed the two voices.

"Yoruichi sen' me ta ya."

The bow disappeared as swiftly as it appeared and her eyes angled in on the glove that was coming along those long then fingers. It was white for the most part but it had a few strips of blue that seemed like the only decoration for the piece that was shape forming to his arm. That, and the spokes that popped out and helped to form his bow, but those were quickly dispersed with so Natsu hadn't gotten a very clear look at the instrument.

Her eyes then raked over the outfits. The boy was in all white from head to toe; something of a coat that had two wide strips that fell between his legs, and white trousers to finish off the look. He had on some sort of collared cape around just his shoulders with blue linings around it. Then at the very end he had white shoes that had blue crosses painted along them.

The girl was much more cheery with her pinky t-shirt that cleaved to her ample bosom, and had a lighter pink design that looked kind of like drops coming out a fountain. It appeared she was injured from the bandages that were her left shoulder but it was clean so there was nothing to worry about there. Natsu continued her trek down to see the human had on form fitting pants that had a pink strip going down either side.

"You're a Shinigami aren't you?"

Natsu drifted back to the duo that were dragging her along behind the corner. They hunched down as well and they were all sat in some sort of triangular circle. She raised an eyebrow and then simply shrugged at the movement before inching around so that she could get comfortable.

"Sure… But ever'one's got secrets." She placed a finger up to her lip then and let out a small hush. "Don't go spreadin'."

"Why did Yoruichi-san send you to us?"

"Not sure."

The two blinked at each other before in the shrug at their pestering. Ishida narrowed his eyes at the Shinigami in front of him and the bored expression on her face. Her eyes kept flickering shut right before them, and she further her slouch as she was sitting. Other than the blasé expression on her face there was just a small tremor of some power about her but Ishida could tell that there was no immediate problem with being around her. It was more just annoying to have her totting around her body after them, and then not knowing why she was being sent at them.

"Wha' was it 'gain?" Natsu let out a small sigh as she peered up into the night. "Wha' was it?"

Orihime let out a small giggle at the amount of comfort that the Shinigami had brought in with her. She had disrupted their secrecy and the tension of the situation with an awkward joking that was bordering on annoying if Orihime could see by Ishida's expression. Yet this stranger appeared completely fine with her surroundings being two interlopers. There was a sense of safety in knowing that the woman didn't seem disturbed by the turn of events, almost like she was still confident in what the outcome was going to be.

"Did Yoruichi-san want you to tell us something, Shinigami-san?" Inoue supplied out seeing as the woman was continuing her sighing mumble which was not helping her to remember anything at all.

Natsu blinked over at the girl and then let out a smile. "Jus' call me Natsu. Ever'one does."

"Alright. I'm Inoue Orihime," the girl smiled brilliantly before then gesturing over to the boy who was pushing up his glasses, "and this is Ishida Uryu."

"Nice ta meet cha both."

The three sat with the air swirling around them. They could make out the smallest of crickets and other insects starting their symphony as they came time life in the dimmed lights. Natsu swayed her head slightly at the sounds around her and then out another sigh let her hands cuddle down into the stones beneath her.

The night was like a wave running through cascading over the tops of her head drenching her into a serene path and leaving her skin livened at the same time. Her head tipped back just a bit more at the feeling and almost felt like she was arching over an invisible wall; her chest pressing up in vivid strength, her arms thrusting out to the sides so that she could cast out all the energy built up, and her head tipped so far back she could make out the ground beneath her. Then as her eyes would come that much closer to the ground she felt her ankles being taken up with thin coils that were shrouded in strength and then she was swirling around the air like a blade with her arms stretched right by her ears. She could hear nothing but the whips of wind by her ears but she knew her chest was heaving with muted laughs that were tumbling out her opened mouth.

Before the flash of gold came back through her eyes, Natsu picked her head back up again and looked at the two ryoka. They were weary but in enemy territory they were perky and constantly aware of every shift. They were looking at her as if she had a new sense, and their bodies immediately clenched up ready to move if necessary. She swiped away at that with a toss of her hand and then a soft ruffling at her fringe, as she came up from her slouch and sat fully onto her bottom in her cross legged position.

"Yoruichi sen' me ta make sure ya knew where ta head."

Orihime perked up and then gestured over in the right direction. "The white tower, right?"

"Good guess." Natsu nodded and then thrust her finger over to the bespectacled one who gave a small jump at the sudden movement. "I covered ya tracks… Thought it be good fer people not ta know a quincy's walkin' 'bout."

Uyru's head angled down for a moment before he gave a curt nod after his contemplation. "I suppose that is better."

"Can't do nothin' 'bout ya clothes though."

"How da—"

"Don't holla." Natsu stuck a finger into her ear and gave the boy a pointed look as her mouth formed into a scowl. "Hur's tha ears ya know."

Uryu crossed his arms tightly and scowled off to the side. "Don't insult my clothing."

"I ain't sayin' anythin'… Jus' tha' i's obvious ya ryoka wit' 'em on."

The two humans blinked and then stared down at their clothes. There was no way to put it but she made a dastardly good point. The two had been hiding around bends all day, but it was easy to spot them with the clothes that they were wearing. Orihime had to marvel a bit at the smart point, while Uryu let out an indignant huff at what was coming next and he was going to loathe having to put on the garb of a Shinigami.

"Righ', so I gotta go." Natsu came to a stand and began to slink back around the corner with only a brief look over her shoulder. "Ya get caught I ain't comin' afta ya guys."

"Wouldn't expect anything more from a Shingami."

"Boke…. Ain't 'cause I'm a Shinigami. I's 'cause i's too much work."

Ishida stared with a fluttering mouth as the woman was already walking away from them, and then stamped his foot into the ground repeatedly as if it were her face. He ground down and down straight into where her teeth and nose should have been and then repeated the process once more. When he was finally done with his tantrum his pulled himself up right and pushed his glasses up onto his nose a bit more. Then he preened at his cuffs making sure they were right by his wrists before turning over to a worried looking Orihime.

* * *

Natsu made her slandering pace along the tiled floor. Her hands were firmly tucked into her pockets and her back slouched again. Her lips puckered up just slightly as she let out small drags of a whistle, which was much more like breathing out air than on any pitch. Her eyes pointed her way forward, but it was her ears that were tingling as she was walking about. There was the rush of waves around her that was leaving behind that buzz that always came from reiatsu.

Just by her side was the running waters of the sewer system. The place was just tiled tunnels that ran beneath all of Seireitei that had small holes every now and again for the cataracts of veins to drop off the waste into the main aqueducts underneath. The slops of water pushed and recycled through the tunnels until they reached the septic tank where they started the initial stage of cleaning which separated the water from the solids. Then during the second stage of cleaning all the extra minerals were absorbed from the water, and then the water pumped back up into different cataracts, though they went to the same places.

The tunnels down in the sewers were actually far more complicated than the streets of Seireitei, and it had nothing to do with the little lighting to help guide people. Where there was buildings or walls that prevented Shinigami from passing through normally on the upside, it was just opened up space below it. The tunnels were much more vast and complex, and had all sorts of different turning points and small routes that simply couldn't exist on the topside. Only fourth division took care of the area in order to clean it.

However it was much easier to track someone based on reiatsu down by the sewers. For someone not adept it might be hard since water acts like a current of reiatsu, helping it to move much like it does with the blood in a person's body. It could disorient an untrained person by acting as a mask over the tracking senses with the reiatsu basically running everywhere. To the trained, on the other hand, it made tracking reiatsu very easy. With less people, there were fewer signatures and once the water was cancelled out, the brightness of the target was made that much clearer.

In addition, what most Shinigami didn't know, including those of the fourth, was that reiatsu omitted from above could be felt below, and so the sewers actually made clean passage routes to getting to anybody. Natsu had used the passage ways so often and simply 'appeared' right where her colleagues were that they thought she used something of teleportation. In fact what she did was track them in the sewer systems and made an easy walk to where they were, bypassing all the building and other obstacles that would have slowed her down, and was able to cross the Seireitei in less time than it normally would take.

Natsu made an easy turn around the bend and made a few more steps before she found Hanataro looking up at her with wide eyes and a small quaver in his eyebrows. His mouth formed into a square as he looked increasingly worried that she was here. What she noticed however, was the dark lines beneath his eyes and the small coating of sweat around his forehead. His fingers were already trembling with effort and he was leaning heavily into his legs to keep himself upright.

She felt a fist slamming into her nose and backed up several steps before tottering over into a crunched 'U', holding onto her bruised appendage which dripped a few splatters of blood into her hands. The lion growled out just slightly in bland consternation, to which Natsu found herself mentally rolling her arms at the jab to her less than effective sensing skills. Hadn't she felt the third presence while she had been tracking the reiatsus through the sewers? Natsu deftly deafened herself to the continuous pandering as she resorted to trying to get out of the situation without any further delays.

She looked up to see a wide-framed guy that was all muscle and no brain. His face was equally as wide as his biceps and rough looking, with pieces of his left eyebrow missing. He was outfit with a green bandana over his shoulder length black hair, and it was that particular shade of green that had Natsu not wanting to look any further down. If the resemblance was anything to go by this was probably the guy from the Shiba clan, her eyebrow slowly twitching at the thought.

"Wha' was tha' fo' ass?"

He was slowly drawing out his sword that was wide and flat like a dao from his lower back whilst a twisted grimace flung along his face. Her eyes flickered down to his white knuckles and then back up to the black eyes as she kept rubbing at the slightly bleeding nose. Her other hand twitched slightly, stretching to its longest length and then contracting, in her hidden unease at the situation.

"Wait Ganju-san… She's also from the fourth division." Hanataro stuttered out from behind the brick wall.

"Couldn't say tha earlier, 'Taro." Natsu picked herself up, quickly going about diffusing the power dynamic between the two. When, she was standing up straight, as possible for her, only tilting her eyes up slightly to match his gaze again, she gave a slight push so that she could bypass him. "Move ya fat ass."

"F- Fat? Wait… Are you a girl?"

Natsu gave him her signature deadpan look and then moved along until she was settled down on the opposite side of the orange haired boy. Hanataro had already done a good job of patching up the wounds. There were a stair of plasters working along the injured shoulders and then from the waist up there was a wrap with nodes to hold down the end of the bandage with the new one that was starting. However the boy was still panting and there was a firm and deep crevice in his forehead to show that he wasn't getting a deep enough sleep.

"Take a rest, 'Taro." The small hands slipped slightly from their work in and they were held just above the chest as she found wide eyes looking at her. "Wha? Ya expect I'd be done 'ere if I was gonna report ya? Boke."

"Senpai… Are you down here to help?"

"Thought that was obvious?" Natsu slung her bag from her shoulders and was zipping it up, taking out the extras that she had packed away. Her eyes flashed over to the wide eyed expression on his face and the flicker as he made out the extra materials. "I've been 'pectin' this for a while."

The one named Ganju suddenly hefted her up by her robes and they stared at one another for a moment. There was a few swaths of spit that came hurtling at her as he began to snap at her face. "You're not spy, Shinigami? How can we trust you?"

"Boke." Natsu equally grabbed onto his own shoulder and dragged him so that her arm didn't have to raise so much to pinch his nose with her other hand. "I'm wit' Yoruichi so quit ya complainin'… I tol' ya to quit it 'Taro. I'm takin' over."

Her eyes flashed over to the medic that had started up again and he stuttered again under her scrutiny. Her eyes narrowed just slightly and then she was frowning. It had the boy leaping away from the injured patient and ushering Ganju further along, who was hissing at having his nose clamped down and not being able to breath properly. Natsu only stuck her tongue out which had the Shiba trying to clamber over the smaller medic as he tried to spit wildfire at her.

Her eyes fell down to the mask that was just by the boy's head, and slowly came to collect it into her hands. Her head sunk down and she took in the skull shape to it, and the straight teeth that were glued together. It was a shiny white, minus that outlines of black that were along the eyes and down to signify were a nose should have been. There were also black triangles that made up the right quarter of its forehead, with the longest one dipping between the two slots for eyes to come out.

Her fingers made a slow dispersal over the material, and took in the crack that was edging down the other side of the forehead. Slowly she picked up a small fragment that easily broke from the main mask and rolled the sharp edges around the pads of her thumb and forefinger. She brought it slowly up to the light and examined how like stone the small pebble was.

"It's what prevented his injury." Her eyes glanced over the exhausted boy next to her and his tentative eyes as he also looked at it. "I don't know what to do with it yet."

"Keep it… Let the patient decide."

Hanataro slowly nodded and held the suddenly thrust object in his arms before bringing it a bit closer to his chest. Natsu was making her way over to Ichigo and she was hunkering back over her bag where she kept bringing out bottles and stores of materials. The younger fourth division member found his own mouth opened a bit at the saved items that were triple that amount that any medic normally carried. There was a whisper of a voice that roved over what she had said, and his heart palpitated at the thought that someone had been working to help the ryoka enter in the first place.

He wasn't quite sure how to mesh the two conflicting ideas in his head. On one hand the ryoka were here to save Rukia, and he disagreed with her punishment. It left him happy that there was someone else that agreed with him and maybe someone that would take the stand with him. Particularly, if it was Natsu that was doing it.

On the other, as his blue eyes ran over the unnaturally serious look of his senpai, he could already tell that she wasn't really here for Rukia. As far as he knew the two Shinigami didn't know each other, and Natsu hadn't been by the holding cell during those prior weeks. There was also something in her tone as if she had been anticipating for years, and not the number of days that everyone had been on alert after Ichimaru had stopped the ryoka at the gate the first time. It was especially true since she seemed to also know someone that Ganju knew, and that wasn't a good sign for someone innocent.

"Oi," Ganju whispered out as he sidled up along the medic, "should we really trust her to do this?"

Hanataro turned slightly at the small glint of nervousness before nodding firmly. "Natsu-senpai is a really capable healer. My captain really trusts her, even though she doesn't look very reliable."

"Is that something you should be saying about your fellow division member?" Ganju let out a small huff of worry again as he crossed his arms.

"She really is -"

"Shush." The two males looked over at the sudden sound from the woman, and then her reddish amber eyes looked up at them with startling energy. "Stop ya talkin'. I's distractin'."

Natsu hovered over the boy as she kept her fingers long and spread out over the wounds on his shoulder. With the bandages taken off, she could see the killer intent that radiated from the deep gash and how it was almost cut all the way down to the bone. Her fingers dipped slightly into the now crusted area, and broke the microscopic healing of coagulated blood. It had probably been where his mask was, with her having to take out the smallest bits of white debris from the wound that Hanataro had missed in his wariness. She then poured her liquid mix over the wound, and watched the fizzle and then the smoke that came to rise out of it. There was a tiny hiss and a pop as the blood started to mix in with the clear liquid, and then came back up with a putrid black tar as it rejected the newly poisoned water.

When the last of the black gunk was out of the wound she pressed a bit deeper and then dragging kaido up through the wound. _Good idea tha' I held off on healin' Abarai_

 _Now you're speaking to me?_

 _Nah, jus' speakin' to maself._

 _You're a pain._

 _…_ _Who is?_

She tipped normal water over the wound again and the wiped at the area. There was the reddish color of a scrap that wasn't fully healed, and that plastered stretch on his skin that was smoothed out along the healthy pale he normally carried. Other than the obvious discoloration the wound was closed over and the interior was also healed up. Her thumb swiped over the small puckering of the skin as it colliding with the air, showing that full extent of the healing as it was reacting with its surrounding, and then bandaged it up again.

Natsu repeated the process on the other side, and then checked his stomach wound which was nothing more than internal bleeding. Her eyes glanced over to where Hanataro was sleeping and the very dizzy looking Ganju who was just on that brink. She vaguely noted that his injuries also seemed to be healed over already. She let out a tremendous sigh as she turned back over to the orange head and then tapped his stomach a few times before healing those injuries as well.

 _No sleep tonigh' at all._

 _You're being useful._

 _Sucks… I wanna sleep._

 _You'll get your sleep later._

 _Ya sure 'bout tha'?_


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello people! Here's another chapter for _Dynasty._ I'm happy to see that there's a growing interest in the story and that some of my readers are "favoriting" the story as they start reading. Thank you all so much. I hope you all continue to enjoy. **

**Please leave comments, questions, and reviews as well!**

* * *

Natsu was able to poke her head up through the tile and then slink out, replacing the tile, and fixing her shihakusho without anyone spotting her. She rubbed at her neck a few times as she let out a few huffs of breath and let her heavy eyelids slip closed for a moment. Healing up Ichigo hadn't been hard, if not just slightly draining on her, but the lack of sleep was really, and finally, catching up to her system. Natsu was just the type that needed lots of sleep to help restore her reiryoku levels to absolute balance, and after years of being able to do it with few actually stressed situations, her body was rebelling at the all-nighter.

There was a sudden scatter and a flurry of sounds around her, and as her head tilted over to the side a sudden flock of birds moved up through the air. Her eyes followed the movements and made out the group that it started to form. They were swarming around and undulating in the air like they were passing over and under waves as they went. Then they were spreading about it forming something of a circle, and Natsu narrowed her eyes as the image became even clearer.

They used their black bodies as contrast against the brightening blue sky. There were two diagonal flicks coming up from the top of what was slowly becoming a head, and were acting like ears. Then there was a long triangular nose through the center, and a swarm of birds that seemed to be making two separate circles that were pitch black. The blue of the sky acted like the shade of the feathers, and the black birds were the true form of the face of an owl that was swamping along the sky.

The air was then split and the face deformed in the matter of seconds it had taken to create it. There was a small squawk of protest from the birds as they scattered to make room for sudden flying vision of Shinigami. Her eyes ran over the school of them that passed by her heads and made out the bags on their backs, before hopping in line with them. A few curious faces looked at her but then shifted again as they became serious to hit the intended mark.

Natsu let out a small huff at the practically dramatic scene that she walked into. Stories up strung through with a sword was the very dead corpse of Aizen Sousuke, captain of the fifth division. Her head titled at the waterfall of blood that was in a clear line all the way down the wall, as if he had been dragged up the wall. The blood around his body was put there with the flicks of a giant paint brush it seemed, splattered away from the body that looked none to limp as everything about it was perfectly assigned and glued to a certain part of the wall.

"Natsu." Her head shifted over to the third seat that was walking up to her. Iemura Yasochika sent horrible, horrible, chills running down her spine. "Why are you here?"

He had swept back blonde hair that was perfectly stilled into a small tip at the back of his head. Then he had three rimmed glasses, with only the top of the glass not being protected by the plastic. However, it was his vain attitude and the superiority that he tried to hold over her that Natsu absolutely abhorred. It was so annoying to have someone yammering down her ear about what she should do when she could heal perfectly on her own. He walked as if third seat was some grand stick to shove up his ass, and gave him the opportunity to look down on other people. Natsu supposed it came more from the fact that he was looked down by the other divisions, and even sometimes people inside the fourth division itself.

"'elp is 'elp, does it matta?"

"Someone of your rank —"

"Like I said," she narrowed her eyes over to the man and his mouth cut off letting her feel the silence, "does it really matta?"

He grunted slightly and then shifted his glasses further up his nose. "I suppose not."

Her eyes fell down over to where there was the clear signs of a battle. The wood was indented with the floorboards curving inwards and shattering down to create a hole into the roof of the hallway below it. The hole had signs of singes and ash around the edges, and Natsu felt the traces of something akin to kido from the region. There was also a hole in the other tower which showed the same characteristics as the one in the floor, so Natsu had to assume it was from a similar type of attack.

With a thrust of her thumb she turned over to another fourth division member and asked about the upturned and burnt wood. Her eyes blinked slowly as she interpreted the information of two fukutaichos falling into combat with one another. It wasn't so surprising with how Momo was so devoted to her own captain, and the near puppy love like feelings she radiated when she talked about him and followed after him at every waking moment. Natsu had briefly wondered at how far the fantasies had wandered for the seemingly innocent type of feelings Momo had for her captain. Natsu had to let out a sigh and a small grumble at the thought that Izuru had got caught up in a mess all for protecting a snake.

"I'm glad I wasn't there." The Shinigami scratched at the back of his cheek as Natsu came to look back at him. "I just mean…. It's scary when two high level people fight."

Natsu took in the near tears on everyone's face as they were taking in the sight of their crucified captain. Everyone was sniffling slightly and there were red marks around the eyes of those that had been there longer and had already digested the scene though had not come to solace with the tragedy of the staked through man. Some even looked like they were going to toss their stomachs in repentance and alms to the corpse. Yasochika seemed to be the only one really trying to rally up a good amount of support, and had messengers going out; most likely to inform the rest of the captains, and to get the fourth division prepped for the captain's body.

She shook out her head for a moment to right out the grumbles courses through her and then made a leap up towards the body; followed deftly by a few more before she reached the top. She could see the cold sheen over Aizen's eyes as the captain was looking downwards on the spot where Momo had probably stood. Her thin fingers hooked into his shoulder and then took the sword from his chest by the hilt, as she used collected reishi to stand on the air. There were gaps and whispers as she came back down with his corpse and then she tossed it over to the beggars that wanted to treat him better. She made out the few indignant scolds that were coming at her and the whispers about her attitude.

Natsu paid little attention to it as she looked over the zanpakuto sword that had no distinct markers. It had a dark purple hilt and that was just about it. It had no power left in it, and there was no trace of who it had once belonged to. For as much she could tell, it wasn't his and it also wasn't any of the registered zanpakuto's that she was aware of. There was just a tiny flicker and Natsu's eyes widened slightly at the morph that started to happen and she quickly shut down her test. Her eyes roamed over the air before she distributed the sword over to the Shinigami that was collecting it for evidence.

"Natsu go back to the fourth. Unohana-taicho has been looking for you."

Her head cocked over to the side as she took in the blonde man before simply shrugging. "I can do tha'."

"Great—"

"Afta ma nap."

"Wha-"

Natsu turned and took off at a slow jog to get out of the scene. Then she pushed away and disappeared over the edge of the building and took on the trail to find Yoruichi.

* * *

Natsu slumped up against the wall and let out a slew of sighs. There was a small drain of sweat going down her face. Her head tilted up to the sun and squinted her eyes at the beaming lights, until a few tears were trickling from her eyes from looking at the molten gold above her. Her hand used to reach up for the object, holding it between her stubby digits, and her mouth would fall open in wonder. Her eyes were never big enough to look at the picture it had seemed to her as the kept stretching as wide as possible to get more and more of the image. The warmth used to seep through her at the molten gold.

Her eyes darted back down and she took a small swerve so that she was fully resting on her bum in a very deformed 'U'. Her arms were still on her knees, but her back was halfway down the wall, and slowly sinking. As it was just her head in the small angle, her eyes began to flicker close. The further away from the image the warmer she actually seemed to become, and her skin painted as she swaddled into the blanket of the sun.

There was a sudden pound on her stomach and she barely twitched until she heard that deep voice calling out to her. "You done with your nap, Natsu?"

"Shudup Yoruichi." She popped one eye open as she took in the cat. "Jus' gettin' started."

The two of them perked at the sudden fuse that seemed to snap in the air. They transferred the information slowly between their eyes as they barely shifted in their stances at the charges of energy now rushing through the air. Natsu collected the human's reiatsu for latter information. Whoever it was, was pretty good and had a decent amount that kept swelling. However, it was nothing compared to the flighty and dancing reiatsu that was Kyoraku, who seemed to be the human ryoka's opponent. If it wasn't Kyoraku than it would have been Nanao, and though it was probably a tougher fight to call on that one, Nanao most likely would have lost. Natsu barely suppressed her snort at the thought of Kyoraku even allowing Nanao a chance at fighting. The man was like one of those small, toy sized dogs that humans had when it came to preventing Nanao from doing practically anything; annoying and incessant enough not to ignore, but not rough enough to cause any harm to her ego.

"One o' yers?"

"Chad… He has the power to punch out reiatsu blasts."

"'e'll lose ya know?"

"I'm aware." The cat hopped from Natsu's stomach and then took a seat right on the ground by her. "But it's Kyoraku so I'm not worried about it."

Natsu came to a full seated position and gave a small nod. The two of them collected what they could from the reiatsus that were playing around in the air. They shifted every now and again but the two seemed to have actually run themselves a bit thin in the past day and night so they were taking the moment to gather and center themselves down into the very pits of where their reiryoku lay dormant. Each of their hands softly cajoling it to come and get ready. Natsu could hear the hiss of her zanpakuto who pranced around in her head for thinking that it had ever left her to begin with.

"You took longer than I anticipated."

"Wha?" Natsu stuck her pinkie into her ear and blocked it from the jab at her efficiency. "I was doin' work… Got 'notha job I gotta maintain ya know."

"Oh? You weren't just napping?"

"Shudup… I was cleanin' up a mess from ya quincy, and then droppin' hints fer Kyoraku. Afta tha' I got hung up cleanin' out tha' fukutaicho tha' ya orange boy busted, and then cleaned up the mess tha' was 'im as well."

The cat's leg came out and patted onto her hip bone as if it were a human trying to offer a small consolation. Natsu swatted at it and Yoruichi let out a chuckle before licking at the paw which had become 'dirtied' by touching her. When the leg was back down on the ground the two hushed at the sudden silence of the closest fight, knowing that it would be coming to a relative end soon. Natsu in particular felt the smallest jolt from Kyoraku, and the slant of his reiatsu, meaning he would take it seriously. It had a horribly long sigh leaving her lips, and Yoruichi rolling her eyes.

"You met up with Ishida and Inoue."

"Yah." Natsu nodded and explained the small interaction and how they were fine. When she was scratching at her head, she turned over to the cat who was still watching her expectantly. "Ya guy made a move."

Her gold eyes became slits. "Has he?"

"Oh yeah… Real dramatic an' all. Staked through wit' a zanpakuto on a wall righ' where 'is fukutaicho would go nuts."

"He's gotten pretty bold then."

"No doubt."

Yoruichi pawed at the ground for a moment as her head tilted over to the side in thought. There were only two of them and there were so many moves that they could make, but what was the actual best move to make. Her eyes shifted back over to the obviously deteriorated Natsu and just about to open her mouth when there was a sudden clash of pressures in the air. It was from far away enough that it made little difference, but because she had been keeping a track of all of the children it was ringing like a fine tune right by her ear. In response her back was hunching up and her head was falling low as she knew that Ichigo was clashing up against the eleventh division captain.

"Boke." Natsu's eyes also narrowed down as she felt that pressure. "Ya goin' ta do somethin'?"

"Not yet. We have to settle on what to do."

"Why I gotta be involved?" Natsu shifted back over again and slumped a bit more. "Jus' make ya calls and I'll do them."

"Because unlike you, I haven't been here for forty years keeping an eye out on the movements. You know Seireitei far better than I do so I'm going to have to take your advice on the matter."

Natsu shifted her eyes over to the cat and then up to the sky. She wanted to bang her head into the wall for having gotten involved in the whole scene. She had had a perfectly fine life before all this, and then suddenly one dreary night her goal had completely shifted paradigms and she found herself in the Gotei 13. A deep sigh from her lips every two of three seconds, and she had to rub at her eyes to get rid of the sleepiness as she continued down the miserable path her mind was taking.

"I need ta get ta Rukia… Then I'mma gonna warn ma cap 'bout tha corpse. Leave tha others 'lone an' focus on tha' orange haired kid."

"The others won't get hurt since they'll be kept in holding cells, right?"

"Yeah… Wit' people thinkin' Aizen dead, the rest of the caps probably gonna make their moves. Treat 'em ryoka as suspects an' stuff."

There was a freeze in their movements as one fight completely ended with Kyoraku's win, and then another started to really pour out. Zaraki was dumping out more of his reiatsu but he wasn't at his ultimate level yet, and the orange head seemed to be holding his own very well. Natsu had to breathe in the dampness to the air, as putrid as it was to her, and store it away so that she could bring herself back to focus.

"Yoruichi." The cat tipped its head over to her from the direction of the fight it was looking in. The words just on the tip of Natsu's tongue slithered away at the sudden quake that snapped through the air and were left forgotten at the sudden urgency since the fight was going in a worse direction than anticipated. "Le's get movin' yeah?"

The cat suddenly pulled out a paper with its teeth and Natsu marveled the cat lady still had the ability to seal and unseal objects to her person in the form of a cat. Snatching at it, Natsu gave the sloppy hand writing a quick glance before turning back to the cat who was rolling out its shoulders and stretching as a preemptive before they were both heading over to the fight scene.

"It's for Ukitake."

"Eh?" She folded it and stuffed it into one of her sleeve's secret pockets. "I'mma gonna 'ave ta stop an' see 'im?"

"Don't act like you haven't been his personal nurse for the past couple of years."

"Not 'is personal nurse… Ma cap set me on 'im and I check in from time ta time." Natsu scratched at her cheek at the accusation and narrowed her eyes because she had only mentioned that small bit of information once and it seemed to have gotten completely misconstrued. "He's too sick ta be doin' anythin' righ' now."

"I checked in on him myself before coming here. He's starting to move, and he'll need that."

The two set off at a rapid pace over towards the fight.

* * *

Natsu paused only slightly to get Ichigo stable enough for Yoruichi to carry him off. They shared nothing more than a brief look, and a small micro language of code between the two of them as time seemed to slow again whilst they were both hunched down. It was that soft code of the next drops of the plan and Natsu had to hurry up through the stairs so that she could reach both Ganju and Hanataro. They had gotten much closer to the tower than she had thought possible in the time.

Her feet slipped slightly beneath her as she was taking a rough short cut up the straight side of the square spoke in the sky. The reishi was cracking just beneath her feet as she bounced off of it, and it was the abhorrent sign that she was lacking in strength. A deep sweat started all over her body and it started from the small tremble in her chest out to her limbs.

 _This is why you should have trained more hardily, Natsu._

 _Shuddup ya damn voice in ma head._

 _I'm your zanpakuto which you seemingly have tried to forget all these years._

 _…. Why ya still 'ere then?_

 _Because there is not enough sun in my world and if I fix you then my world is fixed._

 _Ya selfish._

 _You're wounded._

Natsu narrowed her eyes at the thought that her zanpakuto had spewed out from the depths of her own mind. Her body and her mind were made up on the straight decision forty years ago, and it had crusted over like a ring of red that still had the festering wound sitting just underneath it. There was a small shimmer there in her eyes; she could feel it as the air pushed it away and it leaked over to the side of her face. Her hand swiped at it and the moment passed as did the convulsion in her chest as it came down to her normal subpar thump.

Her face tightened up at the sudden spiritual pressure and she slotted away to the other side of the building as she dimmed out her own. _He's already there, huh?_

 _Dropping the accent then, Natsu?_

 _Shudup._

 _What will you do? Will you finally use me?_

 _Boke… Holdin' a sword ta a cap is a ticket ta jail. An' I got no plans ta head there._

She slipped right onto the deck and inched around the two that were holding themselves at the back. Hanataro had his arms around who she assumed to be Kuchiki Rukia. The prisoner's hair made from a weird bob like orb of black around her pale face, with a strand splitting through her forehead. The bottom part that fell to her shoulders cinched in naturally just a bit by the base of her head and then came out in small frayed sections. There was a deep worn look in her purple and her body was quaking under the pressure of the reiatsu, even as she was sat along the planks of wood.

"Boke." The two jump and whirled around to face her and trembling beneath her was the very worried noble. "Comin' out 'ere durin' a fight is a good way ta weaken yaself."

"You—"

"Jus' call me Natsu, Rukia."

Natsu looked over at the slowly blossoming petals that was the man's zanpakuto shikai. Ganju was just on his other side with a bloodied arm and what looked to be a wounded head as well. He was staring hard at the Shinigami captain in front of him with a slackened jaw and tight lips.

As Rukia let out another plead, Natsu clenched up her jaw and moved swiftly around them heading straight for the captain's back. She heard a quake of her name come out somewhere in back of her but she merely continued forward with soft mutters on her tongue and the breath of air flowing out. She got around the captain with a jump over his shoulder and swung her hand right into the swallow of the blades of sakura as she clamped down onto the ryoka's head. There were ricochets of a scream around her and she made out the petals that were biting into her own flesh.

She stared up at the gray eyes that were looking at her, before letting out a small smirk. "Not gonna ask 'ow I did tha'?"

Ganju was a mess as he was unconscious and prostrate along the deck with her fingers touching onto his forehead. However, the entire attack had become a majority of shallows knicks across the skin other than a few of harsh cuts. Those deeper cuts had settled in before she had been able to get the barrier over his body completely up and ready for the attack. At the expense of her hand though, which was now a gnarled mess with the nerves completely cut through, she had saved the Shiba from a much more elaborate set of injuries.

Kuchiki stared down at her with his head slightly tilted up and those gray eyes hardening out to a glint of the sword as it reflected the light off of it. "I have no need to waste time on bugs."

"Bugs?" Natsu cocked her head slightly and let that ever impressive smirk rise along her face. "Ya pretty sure 'bout tha', huh? Well, this bug knows 'ow not ta get killed by ya zanpakuto."

"If you continue to get in my way, I'll test that imprudent theory of yours."

"This 'bout healin' tha' fukutaicho o' yers?" Natsu mocked back and stood up to her full height with her legs hip-width apart. She let out a helpless shrug and kept her palms raised to the air. "Don't get so huffy at tha'. Jus' doin' ma job."

She saw the swing of his arm before her vision got covered over in white. She took a few steps up so that she could let Ukitake step in and stand before her as he wanted. His long hair came all the way to his lower back and was slightly ruffled from him most likely in a rush to get here. Natsu took a few more steps away from the scene and took in the breadth of the man's back and the strength that he was standing up with.

 _Yoruichi was right._

 _It appears so, Natsu._

 _… I was talkin' ta maself 'gain._

 _Well I can hear what you say and I thought it best to respond._

 _Ya tryin' ta start somethin'?_

Natsu turned back at the sudden weight against her shoulders. Her eyes popped over to the bat wing that appeared up by the side of the bridge, and threw her head back with a grand sigh. It was the ornament that Yoruichi had used to get him away from his last battle, and it was ever apparent that he wasn't done healing from the bandages in his stomach and around his torso. Natsu scratched her head and gave it a small shake at Yoruichi's failure to keep the kid away from his deathbed a day early, but knowing the cat she'd head this way very soon.

Natsu let out a small snicker at him bypassing the girl that he came to rescue to check in on the feeble seventh seat that he called friend. Then in the blink of an eye he was barking down at the tearful looking girl who was raking up a storm of guilt. Natsu raised her eyebrow at that before looking away from the sentimental moment. Off to the side her eyes narrowed at the steeled determination in his eyes.

 _Probably not jus' 'er fault then. He looks 'bout ready to take on the world._

 _Like you?_

 _…. I got no idea what ya talkin' 'bout._

 _It's not like you haven't taken on the entire Gotei 13 for the past forty years._

 _Shuddup. Ya been talkin' a lot 'bout things long gone._

 _At least use my name if you're going to try and reprimand me, Natsu._


	6. Chapter 5

"Ichigo…"

"What? You're not going to tell me to run away are you? I'll never do that." The newly named orange head boy turned his head slightly towards the girl that was trying to get his attention. "Don't make me laugh. It wasn't easy coming all this way you know. - No matter how much you said it, it won't make any difference. I'm going to drag you out of here if I have to. I'm not going to listen to what you have to say, so don't bother, idiot."

Natsu let out a small snicker as she came and leaned against the post with her arms loosely crossed, as to avoid putting to much pressure on the semi-chopped ligament, as the noble responded. "What's that supposed to mean? You're ignoring the resucee's opinions? What kind of strange rescue attempt is this?"

"Shut up! You're being rescued so stop babbling! You should crouch in the corner, shiver in fear, and scream 'help, help'!"

The two were locked forehead to forehead with ire swirling around them like a wall against everything else that was going on. Neither was backing off as they were trying to swat at each other with their glazing glares. Beyond the faux battle that was going on Natsu felt the smallest shift in reiatsu and the little piece in her lower back started to tingle at the fast pace that was heading there way. The Shinigami had to raise an eyebrow at the slight delay of her friend and the fact that she had come the long way around the front of the building, instead of just climbing up. Either way, Natsu looked back at the glaring mismatched friends which was slowly mellowing out, she'd make it on time and it was just a matter of waiting it out.

As Ichigo was taking up a firm stance in front of the prisoner, with only his head to look back at her she noticed the taunt back of the white haired captain ahead of her. She jerked her head at the slip in his step and the breath that seemed to leave him quivering. There was also the fists that were loosely clenched but holding stubbornly to the air that he wouldn't let escape from them.

"Byakuya, who is that?" He questioned to the other captain, and Natsu had let a small smirk come across her lips since it appeared she wouldn't get too reprimanded by the captain that was neglecting to make mention of her.

"He is not important. He is just a drifter that I will destroy." Kuchiki was slowly walking forward again to take up a place as the obstacle. "This is the end of this meaningless skirmish."

Natsu let out a small 'tsk' at that and settled more firmly onto the wood as the fight was about to begin. Her eyes drifted down to the bleeding limb, as she turned it every which way to observe and categorize all the damage. A tiny purr ran along the front of her head as she deftly began cleaning at the wounds with her opposite sleeve. The words of the battle were tossed around carelessly and roughly with little flare for dramatic above her head. They were like steel plates of stubborn determination and obvious intent; one to combat the condescending tone of the older, more strictly wound shinigami and the other to try and demoralize by stamping out the flames that were coming to light in Ichigo's eyes.

"Natsu-chan?"

Natsu peered up at the man's back with him be all too consumed in the fight to look back at her yet. "What is going on?"

"Mah, cap… So much. Too little time." She was putting her fingers up even though she knew that he wasn't seeing her visible list. "Too much effor' ta 'xplain it."

The two stuttered slightly at the increase in reiatsu from the clashing opponents and then the shunpo, which was beautifully blocked. There was a mix of surprise in the back step taken by the lonely captain. Then there was that silent moment that echoed the creak of a door open as the air scattered to the far reaches of the area. The captain's sword was coming up to his nose with the door groaning at the tension and then just as it was about to bang open and hit the wall on the opposite side, Natsu saw the cloth coiling around it.

"You are…" Ukitake whispered out with that stapled inflection of history hitting him over the head.

Natsu grappled onto the white haired captain's arm as he was about to take a step forward to join the fray. She paid little mind to the hard eyes that were falling on her and took in the official version of the cat lady.

Yoruichi stood perfectly straight with her long purple hair up in a high rise pony-tail tied with an orange cloth around it and then sealed with strings. Her bronzed skin brought out from the black long sleeved turtleneck undershirt and then the orange over shirt which had silver shoulder protectors. Her sash was a pale yellow color, and helped to smooth out the transition back into the black leggings that she was wearing. Her shins were protecting by a slight metal alloy silver guards that were connected to her shoes. The slippers on her feet that were between the ones Shinigami wore and those of the onmitsukido.

Her gold eyes jerked from side to side as they took in the whole scene before coming to a stand in her full frame. Yoruichi was deceptively very small, Natsu always noted, but it was the compactness that made her so good at what she did. Her movements were always hard to keep up with, and her body was practically all lean muscle that were hidden excellently in her femininity. People only saw the curvaceous beauty that she was, and it wasn't until they were knocked to the ground that they saw the trail of intelligence that ran straight from her eyes to her brain and the sharp cunning of her worth.

"Yes, cap. I's 'er." Natsu whispered out getting the man a bit further away from the fight.

His white head turned over to her and allowed himself to only be moved marginally with a short stumble at the first tug, and then no more even with her lazy insistence. "What is going on, Natsu?"

"Lo's."

The two of them switched over as they saw Yoruichi jam her fingers into the boy's stomach. He fell onto her shoulder with a only a small reposition from her, and then she hefted him just a bit more so that his feet were no longer dragging on the floor.

"That was a drug. Either Gaten or Houten. They release a strong tranquilizer into the body."

Ukitake's word held just that small note of disbelief that overshadowed the absolute dismay at seeing a long gone captain again. It had Natsu's fingers slightly curling at the accusations he was still believing. Her eyes branched off to the side and then slowly fell to a shut. She put her only clean hand on top of her head. The she slouched with the world coming to saddle on her with that druggy pant and sigh of the wind against her ears that helped to cuddle the dampness of softly fallen tears in the cries from the voices of the people that would soon be heard.

It would only be just a bit longer before Aizen would make his final declaration and everything would shut down. She'd be the only one left to pick up the shards of the mirror that had cracked and fallen away with one hundred years of bad luck only to fill in the small holes with his own image. She'd have to help reform the image of themselves that had been swiped from their very eyes without knowing by trying to glue in the holes and tell out the full story to finally opened ears. Her shoulders were getting tense from just thinking of how little sleep she'd be getting in the next weeks.

"Three days." Natsu trailed her eyes up to the woman that had ended up on the roof of the building. "In three days, I'll make him stronger than you. Your fight is postponed until then. – You're welcome to follow but the Goddess of Flash won't be caught so easily."

Natsu let out a small puff and moved in the opposite direction that both Kuchiki and Ukitake were moving and back over towards the prisoner. The body was swaying dangerously, with those wide eyes coming to look at nothing but the vague shadows of what had just occurred. Then Natsu noticed the small roll in them and made the last distance with a bit of a slide as she collected the girl by her shoulders. Rukia's head fell with a harsh hit against her shoulder, and then slumped like a log against whatever was going to support her body.

Natsu turned the head slightly and then edged the body around so that the airways were open and made easy contact with the air. She kept Rukia's head were it was as the wheezes started to come, and dipped her lips by the prisoner's ear. There was a soft whistle that was coming through her lips just as Natsu was getting her to relax with a soft song of kaido. Then her long fingers came up and pressed between her two breasts and collected Rukia's mouth into her other hand to hide the small muffle. The girl's body gyrated for a moment and fell into tumultuous shaking before it stopped. The body slipped through her grasp as the girl completely knocked into the realm of unconsciousness.

"What have you done?"

"Knocked 'er out." Natsu whispered back and rearranged all the clothes correctly, without glancing at the young medic that was swooping in close.

Natsu collected the girl up into her arms and came to a stand. There was a flash in Hanataro's eyes and his eyes flashed over to where Ukitake was talking to his subordinates and then back to her. His lips began to move and there was a trembled nod asking her to take the prisoner away with her. She could even make out the widening of his stance as he was attempting to plant himself firmly into the notion.

Just as he was about to rush around, Natsu swung her leg straight into his stomach. She hit against his ribs and felt the blow of air as it rushed by her. His body curled around her leg before he even had time to process the hit and he hung like a damp towel along the straight line of her calf. He slide from it and fell down onto the bridge with thump as she moved her leg away and began to proceed to the doors of the prison.

"Natsu—"

"Workin' cap."

She heard the heavy sigh and there was some protest from his third seats but he settled them down. She was left in peace as she slowly lay down the petite girl onto the ground floor that was white as snow and as a cold as ice as the hand of a corpse. Her fingers traced over her sternum again and then gave it a few more pats as she murmured out something more.

Natsu narrowed her eyes and then point her two front fingers down on the girl's forehead. Under the heat, Rukia's body began to slump more and more until it was like mud in a small trench. Rukia's face was already livening under the small administration though and it allowed her to continue even though the walls were taking her reiatsu just as much. While Rukia's forehead was dosed with sweat it was only from the sudden release of pressure. Her body was already acclimatizing to the more sterile air, which had Natsu letting out borrowed laugh.

 _To be so used to reishi confinin' air, poor girl._

 _Sympathy from you is a strange thing Natsu._

 _Shudup._

 _Isn't that why you kicked your fellow member?_

Natsu got up with a small clap of her hands as if it would disrupt the tirade that soon followed in her head. Her zanpakuto was an absolute mess to deal with, and she had no wish to do it at the moment since she had other things to attend to. At the very end of that list was apologizing to Hanataro, but hopefully they wouldn't see each other again until every other mess was cleared up. That would make it an easy apology that way, and it would spare her the use of her vocal chords that didn't want to flex and warm up.

She left the room promptly and the sealed the door as she had once practiced a few decades ago. Her hand came to rest along the pillar for just a moment and her head dropped so it was just her fringe brushing up against the white stones. With a small flicker of her eyes she was back again and facing the slight frown along Ukitake's face. It was better than despondent, but the slowly falling lips were nearly as disappointing as not getting any sleep over the course of a night. She let out a sigh and skimmed her fingers over her shaved hairs and then settled it down to rub at the knot in her neck.

"What is going on, Natsu-chan?" There was a strong emphasis on the words as he repeated it out for the third time for her. There was that note of detached disappointment with grave seriousness and just a swirl of aggravation for being behind on the times.

"Ya third seats gone?"

"I sent the two of them over to the fourth division with the two injured." The man slowly crept closer with his hands gesturing about before they came into the sleeves of his robe. "Now stop delaying."

"I ain't delayin' nothin'."

"What is happening Natsu?" Natsu looked over at the man and neither of their looks made headway in the direction that they wanted. When he discovered this he let out a long sigh, "will you not catch me up?"

Natsu found her mouth closed tightly with the bitter retort that she was going to make. Her good mood had long vanished with the sweep of Yoruichi's flash steps. Here before her was the gentle captain of the thirteenth division that had answers yet they were riddles, and who had questions but they were constrained. They had met years ago when she had first transferred into the fourth division and Unohana was curious about her zanpakuto, and because of that had asked to see how it might affect the man's permanent illness.

She never came to a conclusion, even with the years, about what was behind that flap of white hair and the easy smile on his face. She could do that with just about all the other people that she had come across, but never with Ukitake Jushiro. He acted like a different flavor of his candies every single time and with the constant changes she couldn't read what was going on in his head, although he was constantly transparent.

"What's with that face?"

Her eyes blinked back and she immediately slipped into the confines she knew much better. Spending too long thinking and not enough time sleeping and everyone was starting to read her. Her hand went into her sleeve and came back out with the paper Yoruichi had gifted to her maybe an hour ago, or just a bit less. His brown eyes immediately fell on it and then back up at her, where there were words on his lips.

She merely shook her head and tossed over the firmly folded little square over to him. "Ya third seats can catch ya up betta than me. Been spendin' too much time sleepin'."

"If you're sure." The man was looking down at the paper before sliding them into his own robes. When he looked back up his eyebrows were delicately furrowed and there was still that frown along his face. "Are you in trouble Natsu-chan?"

"Ain't me ya should be worried 'bout cap."

"But—"

"Oh shush," Natsu flapped her hand and there was a somewhat shaky appalled look in the gap of his mouth and the narrowness of his eyes. "Ma cap's gonna give me hell. No matta whateva 'mount o' leniency ya asked fo'. Ya should focus on wha' ya focus on, and leave tha rest ta me."

There was a pause in his voice as he choked back his own words and then he took a few steps back before nodding his head. There just behind the wall of his brown eyes was the sort of betrayal that she shouldn't have been facing at all. Natsu's smirk came out sickening well as she saw the reflection in his eyes, and she only made it stronger as they looked at one another.

"What's wit' tha face cap?" His eyes sharpened a bit and then he was edging a slow foot into a glare at her taunt, with that pulsing frown on his lips as he was trying to weave together something to say. "Almost like ya seen a ghost o' somethin'."

"Since when have you spoken to me like that Natsu?"

She raised an eyebrow at the twist in conversation before shrugging. "Don't know wha' ya talkin' 'bout… I ain't speakin' no diff'rent."

"No… You are."

"No I ain't." She tossed her head to the side and the slide the smirk from her face to give him the more normal looking deadpan. "Maybe ya jus' reactin' 'cause ya upset ya don't know wha's goin' on." She tucked her eyes a bit closer before spouting out her last bit of rage, "Or maybe ya jus' upset 'cause I ain't tha nice girl ya thought I was."

The man let out another sigh that seemed to drain everything out of him all at once. He came back from his time sensitive trip with a calmer smile that was actually twitching with something along the lines of joy. "You're exactly what I've expected to see, Natsu-chan… I'm sure all will be revealed with time."

Natsu blinked a few times at the scary amount of cheerfulness that he could pop out at any given time, and then shuddered. The man was just too much for her to keep up with, and she tried to swipe at the germs that seemed to infuse the air that he left behind. He had no idea what he was inviting in whatsoever with a statement like that.

However, with him on his way out, Natsu was free to shoulder her way to the fourth division. It was a clumsy sort of gait that came along with her normal slink. It was probably from the exhaustion from the loop of the day, since the sun was already sinking down from its high position. She grunted slightly at the chill that wrecked at her core and paused for a moment to collect herself with a hand along the wall as if would support the beating of her organs and the frost coming along her.

 _Damn._

There was a silence in her head and she crushed her eyes together. She felt inoperable suddenly with her fingers turning in towards her palms, and her senses shutting down. There was a spear driven straight through her heart, but she felt no need to take it out since it was already so rusted. The gangrene had set in years ago, and now it was just on the cusp of destroying what was left of her blood. It was like a mark of death that had been placed on her forehead so long ago was finally coming back to haunt her in the final hours here.

 _Natsu, will you call upon me?_

It was always that question from her zanpakuto. Natsu could mimic the chant down to the growl that came along her name and the breaths in between the words. Even the inflections of hope and abject disillusionment were captured in her head ready for recall if Natsu were to make the attempt. There was growl from behind the wall of her eyes and then she heard the magnificent shush that sent everything to silence once more. She could make out the blackness and the face of the woman that spoke to her just before her eyes opened with a small flutter.

She knew then that there was no way to pick up her mood to get over to see Izuru and make fun of him. _'e's in there 'lone, I guess._

 _So will you finally come for me?_


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you to the wonderful guest who left me a review! It kind of is "poor Natsu" but she does deserve it. She can be such a bum! The zanpakuto will be explained later, and as for her relationship with Ukitake... Well, Natsu finds his straightforward caring attitude to be odd, for lack of a better word. It's kind of like when a cat or dog rubs its fur against you and your skin prickles. She finds him a bit irritable but she doesn't think he's necessarily fake, though there is something in her that makes her question he's attitude. I can't say too much more without giving away more. I loved reading your comment. It's much appreciated.**

 **As always, leave comments/questions/reviews whenever you feel like it!**

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Natsu made herself scarce, stowing away in a nearby sanctuary, and only woke up again when the hell butterfly landed on her shoulder with the newest update about Rukia's execution. Her eyes had snapped open immediately and she took in the stars above her that were wrapped up in their own dark, forever dreary blanket. They beamed down at her and sent her a few winks as if they were nothing more than the contents of a cheesy message from a lover; never to be outdone by the endless black around them. The plummet in her chest and the urgency that coursed through her blood was the stark reminder that there was no lover and that the reality was in fact flying off on the fluttering, black wings of a hell butterfly to be sent over to someone else which was disappearing from her view quickly as it meshed in with the dark surroundings.

She would receive punishment no matter how late she returned to the captain, Natsu conferred, and the darkness was calling to her with that push against her eyes. She had wandered onto the roofs at the blasts of reiatsu going around, and they acted like the words of someone trying to soothe her into dreams. Her body felt heavy against the tiles. She was drifting after only a few minutes of her lounge. Her body sinking deeper onto the tiles and no longer able to make out the slates of the individual ceramics pressing awkwardly against her spine and her muscles.

Slowly she came until she was sitting up, with her head being the last thing to bash up against the air and stand up straight. She raked her fingers through her hair and then wiped over her face a few times before slumping back down against her hands. Her face fell back into its normal position with her eyes half lidded and her mouth opened, until she let out another yawn which was only a small disruption to her mask.

 _Looks like I ain't sleepin' 'til later on._

 _Last minute training… Really Natsu?_

 _Las' minute prep mor' like it._

 _You'll forego getting to your captain then?_

 _I trust 'er to figure it out 'erself. She's smart._

Natsu squashed up against the tiles and her mouth pulled up into a grimace. A small bead of sweat fell along her cheek and she slowly ticked her head towards the side. "Whatta ya want?"

"Want? Oh I'm sure you already know Natsu."

A small flicker of Natsu's eyes took in the steamed line across the other woman's face and the sharpness of her eyes which were directed straight at Natsu's attempt to be innocuous and bland. When the woman's arms were crossing, Natsu responded, "No idea."

The woman let out a sigh before coming to a squat in front of her. "At least look at me when you're trying to play off you're insubordination."

Natsu turned to look at the noble face of one Tachibana Ayako. Ayako was branded a bit more of a dark beauty, than someone like Rangiku. Her eyes were a cool, slated blue that edged more along the tone of dark purple, and had incredibly pronounced lashes which enlarged the normally smaller eye shape. Her face was a bit more square than ovular, but it was caught somewhere in the middle of the two with a strong jaw and chin, and thin cheeks. Part of her right eyebrow had been cut away with a lightly colored scar that traveled somewhere from the hairline, through the eyebrow, and then a bit onto her cheek. It cut along her eyeball but it had been shallow enough that it didn't disrupt too much. Only a small section of her eye sight, which was about an inch in length, was just gone.

Her hair was a light purple and was jerkily cut at the top in an untamed sort of way, with two long strips that went along her back. They were much more pronounced than Natsu's with them coming more over each shoulder blade rather than running down the center of her back. She tied each on off with an elastic and then a charm that dangled from each one; the one on the right side was her family crest which had existed for over two hundred years, and the one on the left was the symbol of a circle that had the swirls of the light spectrum which had to do with her zanpakuto.

Ayako had been aptly named. It was not just her zanpakuto which had to do with colors, but her outlook on life and her appearance. The woman carried different sashes, or other wrist and hand apparel with different colors and would deliberately pick which one in the morning to signify how she felt the day would go. She'd even do it if it was a feeling that the day would go terribly wrong. Today was no exception seeing as she wearing black cuffs around her wrists which also had a small flap over the back of her hands and looped around her middle finger to stay put.

"I ain't doin' nothin'."

"Of course you're not." Ayako returned as she lifted her two eyebrows at her. "You just have Ukitake-taicho coming up and asking me if there was something wrong with you and then Unohana-taicho telling me about how you seemed to be helping the ryoka."

Ayako was not stoned face. Ayako was not animated either. Ayako was somewhere in between since when she was angry or disappointed she could create an impenetrable mask of calmness that probably had more to do with age than her actual attitude. When the situations weren't serious, she was calm but joyful. She always had her ears perked if Natsu went to her, and was good for advice when the time called for it. Unfortunately in this meeting her face was set and that thin line on her face would allow Natsu no excuses.

"They worry too easily. I ain't doin' anythin' wrong."

Ayako let out a strong sigh before grabbing onto Natsu's torso and flinging the girl over her shoulder. Natsu could only groan as she felt the barricade of her arm and the press of the woman's shoulder in her stomach. She was another one of those deceptively strong women, which made Natsu scowl at the passing ground that was quickly becoming a blur in the speed they were moving at. Ayako stood somewhere between Yumichika's height and Yoruichi's. However, even with Natsu being much taller than her, the older woman could easily tote her around like she was a bag.

Natsu only looked up when she was put down onto her feet, and then immediately sagged in the spot. Her eyes slowly trailed over the building that they were near and then turned back over to the woman in front of her. Still the impregnatable face was there, with her arms loosely crossed so that she was holding onto her biceps, and there was a slow tap of her foot to count down the seconds that Natsu wasn't saying a word. Yet she had brought them to a safer area, surrounded by nothing but the strong barricades of the sixth division walls.

"Wha?"

Ayako let out a rough sigh which had her head moving down in frustration and disbelief. Her blue eyes turned up at her and sparked a small fire. "What? I should be asking you that."

"I sai—"

"I know what you said, but I don't belief you so start talking."

That hand that she was holding up was enough for Natsu to eye warily. It was the hand that made the simple stop gesture but with Ayako it was how she dealt with Natsu's more petulant states and it was another unstoppable wall that Natsu never knew how to deal with. Her own red-brown eyes could only eye it warily and with disdain at the power of a simple palm and extended fingers in the air.

"Let me ask a more accurate question, Natsu." Natsu turned back to the woman that was tucking the arm back into its original place across her chest. "Why have you been helping the ryoka?"

"I ha—"

"Only a few people have kido that can cut through the Shakonmaku. You're one them."

"Wel—"

"Ukitake-taicho also told me about the confrontation on the bridge and Shihoin Yoruichi appearing out of the blue." Ayako paused to rake a hand through her fringe and land a net over Natsu who was grimacing more and more. "Unohana-taicho also told me about your near negligence to your duties, but somehow arriving at the scene of Aizen's death."

"Ya accusin' me?"

"Do I have to accuse you of something, Natsu?"

"Wouldn't be tha firs' time i's happened in Seireitei." Ayako pulled back slightly and Natsu pushed out a breath as she came to her fully height. "Accusin' tha innocen' o' somethin' seems ta be tha motto o' tha place."

Ayako stared at the shallow look of boredom on her young mentee's face and the indignant flash that came across her features. There were those wrinkles in her chin as Natsu formed the tiniest of pouts on her lips, an act of sheer frustration Ayako was sure, and Natsu's eyes were swept over to the side. If her fringe were just a bit longer it would have cut at Ayako's vision of the well of spite that sat there finally coming to light.

The older woman sighed slightly and pressed her eyebrows closer together as she tried took in the look of shattered innocence and the angry spitting of an already reprimanded child. For the forty years that they had known each other, the only person that Ayako was certain the girl was herself around was her and that was only when she tugged enough until the whole mask was completely wrecked and ended up splintered glass on the floor.

Forty years ago she had gotten injured on a mission and Natsu had only been a new transferee and trainee under the watchful eye of Unohana that had taken in the girl as a strong hopeful. Still there had been the harsh spark of boredom in her eyes and the never weary look of untarnished deadpan along her face. Ayako had been immediately put off by the sight of the long haired girl that had the bronzed tresses against her back in a loose ponytail and a straight fringe that cut through the half way point of her forehead awkwardly, because of that look on her face.

Yet in the short moment where Unohana was explaining what she wanted Natsu to do there was dominance that the wise captain must have caught on to. Natsu's eyes had steeled over and came back to center in that intense amount of scrutiny and assessment. It had nothing to do for personality, although Ayako was certain that the younger could pinpoint anyone's darkest secrets with that look, but for the injury. It was the look of a nurse with that much needed hardened attitude that would probably prevent her from letting anyone die on her bed.

Ayako had chosen to befriend the much younger girl. She herself had stopped counting her age, although she knew it to be way over two hundred, and age mattered little to her. She decided later on that it came down to the strange coloring of the girl's hair and the freckled eyes that had a buttered toffee base and a rusted red splattering. Natsu was unique and there was something Ayako quite liked about the look of the girl that somehow inspired confidence as oddly as she tried to thrust it away.

"What does that mean, Natsu?" Ayako answered back and slipped her arms down to her sides.

Natsu cradled the image of her mentor's face in her eyes before flicking off to the sky again where she could make out the moon and then its outer ring which was the cascade of its light. Her mouth pulled down into a frown and there was that bitter acidic tang on her tongue that tingled as the saliva reacted with it. Her head flung down with a sharp breath that pushed out the beat of her heart. She tugged slightly at the blue sash with a small smile gracing her face that no one but her knew she was doing.

"Ayako ya been 'round a while yeah?" Her head raged with the tug of war about whether she was really going to spill after forty years. She huffed out another breath and closed her eyes to ward off the look of shame that she'd probably receive. "Then ya know I didn't come fer the Gotei 13."

"I assumed that, yes…. But –"

"I'm followin' Urahara Kisuke."

Ayako morphed from the stringent mentor that she was to something else. Natsu couldn't quite name the transitions as her eyes widened and her mouth opened and then shut again only to screw itself into a blended mash. Her face had become devoid of color, making her eyes strike out from the pallidness of her suddenly cold face. There was the absence of the warm near lavender feel of comfort in her eyes as they too shifted to the color of a drowning sun that was eclipsed by its own sunset in the dark fusion of purple. Her fists clenched up and few times and Natsu could make out the rotations of her breathing that were powering up the cycles in her head to process the words.

Natsu felt herself yanked down by the collar of her shirt until they were face to face. Now closer to the spitting features, there was the ever present pillar of concern in the woman's eyes and Natsu had to look away from it as she had always done. Sometimes when she looked too long she'd forget which set of eyes she was staring into and her heart would start to clatter. It created a mess in her brain.

"What," Ayako shook her by the collar a bit as she impounded every word, "do you think you're doing?"

Natsu stayed still within her grips but the woman allowed her no time to speak. The lid of the pot was humping up and down trying to let go of the steam that had built up underneath it from the boiling water. Ayako was good at keeping a lid on it though until the woman was barking down her ear again. "Why are you following someone like him? When did you even meet him?"

"There's more ta it than ya think."

"I don't care." There was the furious bite that Natsu had been more prepared for than the twist of concern and pleading. "He's an exile and a criminal. What has gotten into your head?"

Natsu pulled away with a sharp tug and clung onto the woman's wrist so that she wouldn't go running off. There was nothing in her countenance that gave that impression with the firmness of her jaw and the tauntness of her body. Additionally, Ayako was just not the type to run from confrontation.

Ayako had worked steadily for years under the watchful eyes of Kuchiki Ginrei, until she was promoted to fukutaicho after the misfortune of losing his son. She stepped down from the position as the captain's grandson was coming in as replacement. She became fourth seat to allow a new wind to change the sixth division. She was trained to uphold the peace and stability as was the sixth division's creed and she followed it pretty steadily. There was nothing in her body that would allow her to run away from a "criminal" when she had the ability to capture the interloper, help settle the situation, and bring peace back to the Seireitei.

Natsu, however, was hoping that she'd be able to plead to her more sensitive side and the forty years of relationship between the two of them, before the woman could run her through with a sword. Ayako would not do something so crude, but Natsu wanted to prevent even the knock unconscious that was more likely to happen.

She swallowed and then turned her gaze of to the woman who stuttered just a bit. Her own voice paused at the look of confusion in her mentor's face and wondered briefly what her own face was reflecting to get such a reaction. "There's history tha's been forgotten, Ayako."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nobody been 'earin' tha story fer one 'undred 'ears." The two women slightly parted at the olive branch wrapped in that small whisper. Ayako's eyes shifted between the two of her own and Natsu knew then that she was listening. "Ya hold out ya can 'ear it soon 'nough."

Officially it was silent, as the space sucked their throats dry of any words. Unofficially it was a muffled quiet with the wind howling, the crickets chirping, and the leaves shuddering somewhere off in the background. Ambient noises which deftly drowned out the smoldering looks between mentor and mentee which would have set the open space on fire as they tried to pin one another down. Natsu could already feel the way the lion was parading in her head, the swipe of its claws into the air around it, and the hairs on her body slowly rose as she stiffed up her legs underneath the cloud of disrupted serenity. Her feet shifted slightly and the two broke eye contact.

The lion raged loudly in her head, and her body began to lean away. Suddenly, Natsu's hand was taken into the two hands of her mentor and she felt the small presses of the pads of fingers against her knuckles. She stared down at the clean sheet of bandages that the woman was trying to wrap around her hand and then back up to the woman who was still staring intently at her, trying to decipher what was not said and said in the hush of the silence between them. Their two eyes looked at each other as if it would transmit radio signals, until Natsu's fell back down to the ground. Those purple-blue eyes were like suction cups and a pair of tweezers all at the same time.

"Alright." Natsu heard the ring of clarity around the woman's voice. "Let's say I believe you. What does that have to do with Urahara Kisuke and the situation right now?"

"I's all endin' Ayako, and ya'll see it tomorra."

"The execution?"

Natsu lifted her head at the pulse on her hand which was Ayako squeezing down firmly, and then shifted a bit further up to see the scowl along the woman's lips. "I can't tell ya." Natsu lifted up a bit more at the dread that was slowly swamping over the woman. "I's somethin' big."

"And you're preventing me from getting hurt to soon? Don't you think the anticipation will kill me more?"

Natsu huffed slightly and then settled on a smirk. She slowly waggled up a finger and then tossed her head to the side to impede the attempt at Ayako's teaching side coming through, and switch up the board again. "Now, now. Curiosity killed tha cat."

"Just tell me, Natsu."

"Would cha actually believe me?" Her finger became a straight hand, palm side up to the sky, and out to the side to help her shrug. "No one else 'as believed it 'cept fo' those tha' died."

Ayako pulled back further and took in the zipper that seemed to be running along Natsu's face. It was only those brown-red freckles in her eyes that somehow moved slightly to uncover the deep seated mistrust and isolation from whatever the information was. The girl looked simply exhausted at the prospect of having to even open her mouth, which was something new; for as much as she complained about speaking, the girl was always up for a quip or a joke.

Ayako had to abandon her hands because the sort of aura the girl sent was nothing but serious and dark like the black sash around her own waist. She knew there was nothing to stop Natsu from fulfilling whatever it was that had to be done; not even reiatsu inhibiting handcuffs and a jail cell. The older woman's eyebrows dropped slightly just after detaching from the younger girl and she knew that a frown was painting her face at the moment.

Her heart was screaming at her for making the girl feel abandoned. There was a clear weight on the younger one and if what Natsu was saying then it was about something she had toted around like chain and ball for forty years, only knowing that sometime in the future she might be able to take it off. Her eyes closed off to shut down the feeling of her heart and came up with a resolute pad lock not to be broken until the mid-day sun tomorrow, which hopefully brought along that key for the young girl.

"I'll wait for tomorrow then." Ayako looked at Natsu with cleared eyes and there was an instant shudder of the form so that all jokes were dropping away and there was nothing but the serious eye and the drained physique. "I believe in you, although I don't like the circumstances."

Natsu swallowed a few times to prevent her voice from cracking as she looked at the near shy smile on her mentor's face. Her voice came out slightly breathless from the tension that was receding, "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet." Ayako shook out as she gathered up the rest of her energy. "I'm going to have to tell Unohana-taicho something."

"Bah." Natsu dropped her head back and let out a long sigh before going back to the image of Ayake's raised eyebrows and the eternal patience she seemed to have for childish fits. "Make somethin' up."

"I will not do that."

"Why not? Not like ya even know wha's goin' on." Natsu put her two hands out as if the words were a physical present to hand over to the woman. "O' ya can tell 'er ya jus' didn't see me."

"I will not do that either."

"Sucks."

Ayako let out a snort of a laugh before stating calmly again, "I'm sure it does."

Natsu stuck her tongue at that and the woman shook her head in denial at the act, but Natsu only pulled down at one of her eye lids until the woman was telling her to stop. Natsu only proceeded along with the messy taunt by waggling her tongue up and down, to which she got a blanched face and then a hand over her lips to forcibly shut them. Only then did Natsu stop the face and go back to her regular slouch with a small grin painted along her face.

"If you want to go running around then tell me something to give your captain." Ayako had a smile of her own on her face and patted slightly at the cheek beneath her fingers before drawing away again. "But to see you doing actual work is a hysterical notion."

"Meanie."

"It's deserved. - How many times have you staved off working for trying to distract me from my own?"

Natsu turned her head over to the side with a forced grin on her face whilst Ayako put on that reprimand and nearly went down on a rant about how she had to take on more actual responsibilities when all this was over. The woman was always clucking about the same and Natsu only turned them into periods of listening so that it would soothe her into a sleep. Unfortunately Ayako had caught on very quickly to it and would stop at random intervals to make sure she was really listening, but Natsu would only shrug.

"Fine." Natsu cut through and looked back over at the blinking woman who was slowly closing her mouth. "Tell 'er tha' she's probably thinkin' wha' I was…. An' she'll need ta take a walk ta clear 'er head."

"Being cryptic won't put her at ease."

"Nah… I'll leave tha' fer ya ta do, Ayako."

Ayako watched as the girl made a slow slink away from the scene with a smile burgeoning on her face. Natsu was back to normal and the dedication in the footsteps moving away from her was enough to put her at ease, although it left her with more of a work load. Her brows furrowed slightly again and she ran a finger through the top of her head at the encoded messages that remained ever faithful to not only Unohana-taicho's intellect but also to the root cause of her mission. There was a small flare going off in her heart that there was something she had missed to help take care of her young mentee but she'd have to just trust her on this one, Ayako supposed.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N The action finally begins! Slowly albeit. I hope you guys are still intrigued by what's going on in the story, and that everything remains believable. Also, a bit of her zanpakuto is finally revealed. I know that some of you have been curious about Natsu's relationships with her spirit.**

 **I'll try to do, at least, weekly updates for you guys.**

 **As always, please comment/review and leave any questions you want! Always, glad to hear critical or supportive comments from my audience. I like finding out what you guys are thinking.**

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The truth about Natsu was that she always hid in plain sight and actually, rather ironically, had a few routines. The problem with that was that most people thought she wasn't nearly stupid enough to do that because it would only make her easy to find, and she never wanted to be found by anyone. She even tested the theory by actually taking a nap under her work desk, within her first month stationed in division four, and she got in a solid six hours. She had woken up on her own, drowsily rubbing at her eyes with her palms, only to find out that the captain had been looking for her about half the time. So when that evening came, the night before Rukia's execution, she sat by one the grassy areas in the fourth division; just under the shade of a tree. No one bothered to go and see if they could find the rogue woman there.

 _Ya think tha cap would at leas' know._

 _Perhaps she does and there's part of her that's following her intuition._

 _… An' tha's why she locked up 'Taro?_

 _She has known you for longer._

The rest of the evening, after her meeting with Ayako, was spent trying to find Yoruichi. The cat had hidden away very well, undoubtedly only leaving small indicators for Natsu to find, along with the orange head that was in the feline's company. When it finally happened, Natsu stumbled into the mysteriously built training yard that the cat lady was using. She had blinked a few times at the structure and saw the signatures that it was all Kisuke's doing and wondered just how many more he had built around all of Seireitei that no one knew about.

Abarai garbled up his words and tried to connect the missing dots only to come up empty. He had watched her quietly as she calmly sauntered through his training for his bankai, and made no moves to stop her. She concluded that it had been because she had healed him after his last fight with Kuchiki, although her appearance in the place was also very telling. His eyes had narrowed at her wafting wave but he did nothing else and then went back to slugging his monstrously large bankai and hurling it at rocks.

The red-head gave up much more quickly than the orange-head. Ichigo had thrown a bit of fit at seeing her since, apparently, Hanataro had told him about her after the incident in the sewers. He held back any words of gratitude as the grudge he held from recognizing her from the incident on the bridge darkened his likening towards her. He thrust himself right into her face whilst he forcefully retired from his rigorous training. She gave him a small look and only watched as his zanpakuto spirit grabbed onto the back of his shihakusho and threw him straight into a few rocks.

* * *

 _Yoruichi tucked her hand into the folds of her shirt before taking out the paper. Her purple eyebrow rose a bit and gave the paper another rove with her gold eyes before turning it right into Natsu's hands. "Kisuke told me you'd be wanting it so I picked it up from the library."_

 _"He always think tha' far 'head?"_

 _"He's a nut." Yoruichi snorted slightly as she turned back to Ichigo who had resumed training with little problems even with his temple now bleeding. Her gold eyes slide over again to the girl that was stowing the paper away. "You're welcome to stay here to train."_

 _"Nah. I don't like bein' round smelly guys…. Only tha' cute ones tha' smell good."_

 _Yoruichi snorted slightly at the weird logic that came from the girl and then shook her head. Her excuse for getting out the training zone was so petty. "If you wanted to leave I wouldn't have been offended. It was only an offer."_

 _"I wasn't lyin'." Natsu shrugged at that and shifted back over to go towards the exit. "I'll meet ya tomorrow."_

 _"Will you manage? That's pretty complicated stuff."_

 _Natsu smirked over her shoulder with her teeth letting off a glint in the fake lighting above. Yoruichi had to let out another snort at the mocking look in the girl's eyes, knowing what was coming next. Natsu sounded off a clean and expected, "Who ya talkin' ta? I'mma good like tha'."_

 _"Right, right. Get out of here then."_

* * *

The sun was peaking along the wall of the courtyard when Natsu broke from her small reverie. Leaking her drowsiness out with a mewl of frustration, her eyes sharpened with a deep inhale of that crisp air which helped to awaken her just a bit more. She had dozed most of the night with intermittent work and was just coming up from her last batch of sleeping for the rest of the day.

She stretched out her body a bit, raising her arms until they were for once taunt poles over her head, before she slumped back down into her hunched over sitting position. Her blood was singing something twisted; nervousness, excitement, and the low rumble of the lion in her head. In her awareness of the quickening thumps, she fell down to the rhythms of it. Her head was just above the torrents of the moment, and she was able to focus her thoughts just enough to start swimming opposite of her blood's desire to go towards calm and damnation.

Her hand fell right beneath her neck and took in the continuous beating of her heart as her thumb and forefinger fell along the major arteries just above her collarbone. The bone itself felt sturdier and hollower than she had imagined. The pulse moved faster than she could verbalize the count, like it was trying to crash up against a wall like a battering ram. Her eyes fell closed at that as her hand dragged back down to seat in her lap. Taking in deep breathes again, the soft whistles of the air as it entered her nose reached her ears, she sunk into the puddles of her slowly thickening breathing. She had to get it to work at her own pace, hear the sounds of her breathing and not that of blood singing, so that she could start moving.

She came into her own body with her toes slightly wiggling and conscious of how the skin of her calves were sagged against the heels of her feet. Her knees were tightly bunched as she slowly unlocked them as her cross legged position opened slightly, and let her thighs also relax down until they were laying against the grass. Then she pulled her stomach in and pushed it out a few times, until it rested naturally.

Her fingers were gently curled in and were brushing against the grass with her wrists bent back and open to the sky. Her back came up straight and offered it up to the awakening sun as it came blasting down onto her chest. The air came along her back and swirled around before crashing back the way it had come, while the rest of it created small whistles around her ears. There was also the scent of dew making its way up as it was evaporating in the burning light, and she sucked it in eagerly to her chest before pumping it back out.

When her eyes opened back up she saw the wisps of her golden red reiatsu slowly evaporating into the air, and smirked a bit. "Looks like i's all good."

Just before her was the piercing brightness of gold and she took it into her being again. It wafted over her like a gentle comb through her hair and that tantalizing crawl down her neck to scratch at it. The fingertips were adoring as they made her ticklish and then moved before she could really feel the pain of it there. They transferred down to her back and made a soft run there, before circling around. Hot air fell upon her shoulders and she snatched away from the half memory before it could go any further.

 _Ya comin' wit' me?_

 _It's about time you asked for me._

 _Shuddup ya annoyin'_

 _That's rich coming from you Natsu… And if you're going to insult me please use my name._

 _…. I'm takin' back what I said previously then._

 _Of course you would._

 _Don't snort!_

Natsu came to her feet with a definitive end after collecting up the papers she would need. She could make out the ripples of fighting break out, and knowing down her senses to catch hold of Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Zaraki. She didn't recognize who they were up against specifically, other than Iba, but knowing that was enough. Iba followed his captain with decent loyalty, which mean the seventh division captain was there, and an educated guess had her placing the ninth division fukutaicho and captain there as well. There was a long bought of camaraderie between those two divisions so it made the most sense.

With the pick of light Natsu started on her course towards the executive grounds. From the masses of energy she knew that it hadn't started yet but it was only a matter of time before the flames started to run rapidly around that area. Her hand pressed up into the folds, as she continued her pace, and there was a jolt of electricity at the idea of mutiny that had her moving just that much faster.

 _Yo… Still there?_

 _Of course, Natsu._

 _Honestly…. Bit surprised by that._

 _Oh? And I even got a drop of your accent for that._

 _Shudup_

 _… You forget Natsu. I can never leave you._

Natsu peered over to the side as they were moving to the lion that was keeping pace with her. Its legs extended out; two to the front, while the two in the back were slightly bent to get ready to push off again. The brush of golden fur gave way to taunt muscles that were stretched out and flexed, particularly by the shoulders that were more bulky. The sag of skin that was normally under the belly was stretched as well, and it made it easier to see the slight line of the lion's ribs.

The lion turned its head slightly to look at her and its teeth glinted slightly. It was a female from the lack of the mane, and its rounded ears were pert and pricked at attention. Then the lion made a sudden leap over her, which had her ducking her head sharply, before rushing ahead. Its tail flickered slightly and Natsu caught the slight look back from the red eyes before it charged ahead and then disappeared from her view altogether and back into the inner world where it belonged.

 _Show off._

 _Well you've continuously diminished my powers so I had to make a point._

 _I ain't needed ya._

Natsu shook her head at the growl and narrowed her eyes. Her eyes fell down onto the small sun symbol on her right wrist, which was where her zanpakuto was sealed in. It had been there for almost forty years, minus a few moments when she had actually used it, or when she simply didn't want to carry it around. When she carried it around the connection was much stronger, so sometimes she left the sword up against the wall by her closet when she wanted to get further away from it.

Her zanpakuto was a complicated one, and it always tested her patience. Natsu preferred the woman over the lion, although they were actually one in the same person. Her zanpakuto had a split personality; one being the grumpy, ferocious lion, and the second being the peaceful woman. They switched in and out of one another at different times, although it was only the woman that Natsu preferred communicating with.

Natsu came to a halt on top of Sokyoku Hill and paused a just a moment to collect her breath. As her senses and breath steadily flowed back through her veins, she made out the new shifts of reiatsus. Her feet went into a flurry as she put more space between her and the gallows, although she stayed in the center line of it.

"Alright." She turned back around to face the two strong pillars of wood with the horizontal bar, whilst she stood on the shadow of that bar. "Time ta start I guess."

First she came to a squatted position as her finger began to draw out symbols around her. Her body circled, using just the tips of her toes to move about, as she made out the small chant that went along with the etchings, until she was back at the front. Then she came out to a cross legged position and traced around her for a moment at all the etchings of kanji and of other kido symbols that were around her to make sure that they were done correctly.

With a flourish she pulled the panels across her legs. Her head broke up as she felt the new movements of the sou-taicho and the rest of the procession making their way towards her. She let out a huff and the ducked her head back down. Her middle fingers crossed over their respective fore fingers and then she overlapped her left thumb over her right as her hands clapped together. Slowly the remaining fingers began to interweave, and she felt the brightness of her own reiatsu as the energy surged up her entire body in waves and then pushed up.

"16 nights. 15 cloaks. Over passing shadows, and clouds." Her softly chanted under her breath and her eyes flickered slightly to see the start of the white lights around her. "14 birds swarm. 13 mouths fed. Cloaked by dark, picking scraps. A thousand winds, and treads the water of vapor. Hidden in the mist is the on looking eyes."

Her head picked up fully. Everything had deafened around her and she could make out no usages of reiatsu around her nor even the brush of wind. Her hand slowly came up and pressed down onto the wall before her, which slowly wafted under the touch and then became steady. No longer filmy and mutable, the barricade could now work to prevent her own reiatsu from being detected and could only be broken from the inside out.

Her fingers twisted over the panels and folded up the ones already used. Her top lip slowly came into her mouth and she drew her bottom lip over it before letting it go with a spluttered popping sound. Her finger dragged over the words and she mouthed them out for a few moments, nodding along with how the chant fell along her own tongue.

Her eyes fell along the figures that were slowly walking into position and noted the absence of one white haired man which had her smirking. Her hands came to form a V-shape with the tips of her fingers pointed directly ahead, and just slightly touching.

"Thousands spirits and bursting veins. Thousands souls and tampered energies. Thousands screeching and two-toned vengeance." She bite back a small snicker and looked directly at the old man's back as he was coming into position at the center of the place. He was blocked then by the vision of the strong steeple that was the sokyoku as he placed himself in front of the object. "Cries of the phoenix, river of reishi, and unbroken spirit. Steel and sword. I break thee, come singing and let out the wakeful torrents of pain."

She sat holding that same position as she watched the hooks from the top slowly came undone and showed off the magnificently gleaming tip of the Sokyuko, which had a whipping chain coming off from the top. The thick ropes near the bottom unwound completely under there was a few harsh tremors through the hill as the nails came down to and pinned through the earth. There was a flare of dust up in a perfect circle at the push of reishi as well and then they swept away with a harsh blow and the area cleared out.

The ropes started to burn away from the ground and the whirled as they went up through the air. Natsu gritted her teeth slightly and pressed her finger tips more forcefully together, until the sides of her thumbs were connecting together, and the thumbs themselves were huddled into the small cavern that was the palms of her hands.

As Rukia was going up towards the cross, Natsu began her chant again. "I break thee along the hopes. Unjust and forewarned as the punishment. Come thousands upon thousands weather and break under my call."

Her eyes grew large at the brushing of flames across the sky. She could only imagine how the heat that was coming from the area as the spear was lifting up and turning into the phoenix. Her eyes glanced over to her sides and she made out the brushes that were picking at the reishi of her barricade and narrowed her eyes with a harsh tug to her mouth.

 _Didn't think it would get at the barricade… Fuck._

 _It's a more powerful entity than kido, Natsu._

 _Shudup… Gotta focus._

There was a burst and Natsu made out the tails of the phoenix as they came down closer to the ground though never fully touching it. Her eyes marveled at the arch of its wings and the swarm of flames that made up its muscles in magnificent waves as it completely formed out. Its head was ducked low but there was a flap and she felt the wind pass through her and moved until it was fully horizontal along the air, as if laying down on a bed. It was bursting red and near golden white as its power bounced from it and the fires alight to the hottest temperature.

When the phoenix was moved backwards Natsu knew then that the moment was coming in just a moment. There was a screech that penetrated down to the bones and was like a child thumping against the ground of a public area in protest, which had Natsu letting out a sickening snicker. To get in the way of prey was never a good thing, but with Ichigo there she had time to finish up the chant as she made Ukitake's body coming in from the back.

"Kikio of a thousand swords. Kikio of grand punishment. I revoke your calls. I shed your swords. I break your vengeance. Thousands of knifes and gallons of reishi. Coil and disperse. Coil and fester. Gold upon red to diminish nothing. Ash to be reborn."

Her head tucked into her arm as she made out the burst, and the flames that were thrust backwards. They coiled up around her barricade and melted it down within seconds as Natsu flung herself away from the air just a bit. The flames trailed after her, as she was scrambling to lock down her own reiatsu. The flames were enough attention but she might be able to pass it off if there was no other signs of her being there.

She pressed her stomach into the ground. The heat was strong along her skin and she pressed her head into the ground bringing her hands up over head as if it was enough protection. Her crunched together so her eyes wouldn't burn out at the rebound of energy coming at her from all directions. Her teeth gritted up at the swirl and felt her skin burning off her body slowly as it someone was picking at all the skin along her body. It was that slow annoying pick and then the pull up until there was a snap as the elasticity of the skin gave way and left nothing but new, raw, skin cells underneath.

The repercussions of the kido hadn't been noted, most likely because no one had actually attempted to ever try and stop an execution. Finally they diminished away and left her a sweaty mess and her lungs out in the open as she was scrambling at the dead air around her. She hacked out a few curses with her coughs at the flares of pain along her body and at the burnt air. She dragged in air uselessly and picked her face up just slightly before making a crawl back to the space she had been in, to find it a bit easier to breathe in.

She let out a few laughs to herself as her chin came along the ground and she looked over to the pole was broken apart by none other than Ichigo. Then she felt the clench of her own muscles along her back and she let out a hiss. The burns were running like tsunamis destroyed everything in its path and leaving nothing to rebuild.

"Fuck."

 _Call me._

 _Will I ge' tha nice ya?_

 _Shall we see?_

 _…. Sucks._

Natsu turned her eyes over to the group of people that were slowly disappearing one by one, and at Kuchiki who was already trying to beat into Ichigo. Her eyes lowered down slightly and then she drew her left hand over her right wrist, and pulled out the sealed sword.

"Heat of the mid-summer sun, boiling lifeblood and vapor of disease." Natsu slowly chanted as she held the sword out long ways a head of hers. It started to vibrate, and then her two hands began to split apart until she held a tanto in her left hand and then a katana that was edging on the smaller side. "Sekhmet."

Along her back was suddenly fashioned two different sheaths to hold onto which ever sword she decided not to use; one for the tanto and then the other for the katana. Other than that there were no changes.

She slipped the katana away and then placed the tanto up along her shoulder. The heat immediately swamped over her back and she made out the soft mumbles of her zanpakuto in her head as she spoke about the second degree burns that was pocketing and already creating blisters along her back. Immediately she was thumping and rolling around in the ground to slough what was left of the fabric on her shoulders and back and let the garment drop to the ground below and pool around her hips

 _I'll get it healed quickly._

Natsu peered up at the feet by her eyes and twisted her head to look up at Unohana that was looking down at her. Those blue eyes took in her appearance with the utmost care before giving her a steeled look. The captain's voice was soft as she spoke out, "I received your message."

"Tha's good."

"I won't make accusations." Natsu blinked a few times before letting a smirk decorate her face and watched as Unohana turned. "I will, however, go to check for myself."

"Course. I'll be 'ere."

Natsu let out a huff and swallowed down at the sudden loss of her energy while she angled her cheek back into the ground. Her eyes flickered just over towards the destroyed papers and her teeth clattered against one another. There had been one last incantation on it, the more complicated one of the two, and now it was all but a small crisp of leaves from the rejection of the Kikio. She blew out more air and clenched her eyes shut to ward up the ire and the scream that she wanted to release to the world.

 _You will have to use me then._

 _Par' of ya, I guess._

 _It's better than nothing after so many years._

 _… Shuddup._

Her eyes trailed down awkwardly and put a pressure on her head as she tried to make out the white bandages that she had placed over her chest to bind it a bit more while not moving her head enough. She really didn't need it, since she was particularly flat, but it made her feel more comfortable to not have anything moving about with her more hurried schedule in the past three days. It was turning out to be a good thing since she lost her top, which she would be dragging out from underneath her hakama and sidling off to the side once she could move about. The bandages themselves were in pretty bad condition already but they didn't feel completely worn through since she could make out the pressure along her back from the wrap.

 _When the fightin' starts, I won't be carin' 'bout how I look anyway._

 _No, you won't have time…. I am almost done._

Natsu's chin moved along the ground as a nod to the zanpakuto although she knew that it was not seen. She could make out the welts coming off of her skin and the blisters that were popping and puss that had been starting to run freely were drying out. Soon it would be nothing but clear skin.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for the delay folks, but here's the newest chapter. I struggled a bit with the rhythm for the chapter... The action continues, however. Hopefully the pace of the overall story will start to pickup a little bit from here.**

 **Shout outs to those that favorited and followed the story in the past week and a half! Thank you.**

 **Please comment/review.**

* * *

Natsu didn't have time to worry about the fight that was progressing between the captain and Ichigo. Nor to worry about all the other fights that were sparking, like hot flashes, around the Seireitei. Instead, with a go ahead from her zanpakuto, she had placed the two blades along her back and then stretched her body out like it was an elastic band. The muscles popped slightly and there was a tautness to her back that only gave way when she arched backwards. Then she wrung her shoulders both ways and pulled her arms across her chest and then back up. She continued to do this three times until all the kinks were rolled and her arms swung like whips in the air in the new skin.

She carefully looked over the bandages on her chest and redid them so that they were fastened tightly. Then she checked her hakama and redid the white sash so that she could feel the press against her stomach. She kept the blue sash out and dragging slightly behind her as she began a steady walk with her song just under her lips.

She crossed one way to the left, and then backtracked and went the other way to the right. The wind and the reiatsu lines swirled around her as she went over to the right, but she edged her way through them. Then she backtracked again and then stopped right at the center again, were the sash went waving down into folds along the ground.

Her breathes came out slightly shallow as she reached behind and dragged out the katana, to slice a clean line over her arm. Then she stuck it firmly into the folds of the sash as the blood slowly dropped down and began to pool out along the blue and then overflowed until the blood drained out further like rivers along the ground nearby.

In the meantime, her right hand came out and took up the drops of blood to draw out her veins around her wrist with her own blood. On top of her forearms she drew out connected swirls. With another dip into the ink of her blood, Natsu then wrote out a circle of kanji around her bicep, as she twisted and turned to make out to see if she was doing it right.

"Looks good."

With a soft nod she jerked her katana out of the ground, now clear of all her blood, and shut it into the sheath, before drawing out the tanto. She smoothed the cold steel over her left arm, and stroked up and down as the cut healed up and the blood slowly dried out, until it was like tattoos along her skin. Her heart was pounding against her chest, and there was a sickened twist in her upper abdominals as she stared at the design.

 _Really didn't wanna use this._

 _It's good you made the preparation for it anyway._

Her head jerked up as she heard Ichigo's shouts of victory. Kuchiki was standing off towards the edge in contemplation with that still cool look in his eyes, even though his chest had a deep gash going through it. Her eyes ticked back over to wear the group of other ryoka were coming up, and let out a small heave.

 _Gonna get messy._

She shoved the tanto away into its sheath and then picked up the sash, so that it dangled loosely from her fingers. Her head titled back up to the broken pillars that used to be the execution gallows. Just like those gallows, so to would be the Seireitei that everyone had gotten accustomed to, and Natsu's heart shrunk in her chest. Inside she wanted to throw a tantrum, but there was a sort of peace knowing that her forty years was coming to an end.

There was a swirl and she stared over to see Abarai, with Rukia collected up against his chest. The red head stared up in shock at the pillars, and his mouth slowly began to dropping open. Natsu noticed vaguely that Kaname was also there before she felt the shift in the air and peered over at Aizen and Gin that had appeared within seconds.

"Welcome, Abarai-kun." The man took slow steps forward as he came over to the still shocked red-head. "Put Kuchiki Rukia down and please step aside."

The ex-captain was the same as ever with his uppity voice that carried those waves of inflection trying to snuggle everyone under their blankets. He still dawned his thick framed glasses, and his hair was still parted over to the right with some fringe coming down onto his forehead. He still wore the captain's cloak, and still had the shihakusho on. He still walked with ease, spoke with intelligence and open superiority, and still appeared completely calm and comfortably warm.

Yet under that Natsu could already see the swirl of his reiatsu as it also morphed from its usual cascade of flowing chocolate to something more sinister like man eating plants, nipping persistently at bloody wounds. His smile had turned devilish and there was that off white paleness to his face. He was looking down from his glasses instead of looking through them, with that small arch in his head. His voice carried that soft tune of knowing victory and near glee as he was talking.

Her eyes picked up slightly before she could start the inspection to see if Gin had changed at all from his slimy snake to something different, but her fukutaicho's voice was coming clean through with the tenteikuura communication kido. Her head dropped back down and she let out a shallow sigh as it blanketed the air with her own remorse to the situation. Yet there was the lift from her shoulders and the weight of the secret was coming rolling off, with the pulse of electricity and the excitement that tingled equally through her.

 _I suppose. It's time, yeah?_

 _If you are sure, Natsu._

 _… Sekh. Ya really suck._

She eyes narrowed slightly as none of the captains were moving in on her. None had even paid her a glance, and her head cocked slightly. The reiatsu inhibitor only worked inside of the circle that she had been using, so they must have known that she was there. She snorted slightly at the knock to her ego that they were doing.

 _Probably think that I'mma too scared ta go runnin'._

"See to your left, and to the right. Planted orchards and planted might. Stapled earth to my veins." Underneath the half lids of her eyes Natsu stared at the fight that was happening and then as Ichigo came into save the day once more as his name suggested. "Mellowed tones and crashed bones. Life blood and conjure. 4 cataracts a place. Sealed, unsealed, and flow… Kai."

The ribbon drifted up slowly from the ground below her, and she shut her eyes as the smooth sensation of it wrapping around her left arm. Her reiatsu came tumbling out in waves at the release of her own seal, and she shut her eyes to the sensation of bursting. It was like explosions suddenly going off in her head, and with each sudden crack in the storage place the more explosions went off until the electricity shut down.

The sash cinched tightly to her arm and the back-up generator came on. Her legs came out wide, and her left arm lifted up to the side of her body and she clenched it down into a hard fist. As her eyes came up, she made out the red veins that came out from her wrists and enclosed around the three people by her on the hill top.

"What is this?" Aizen slowly pressed up against the red sheen that overcame Rukia. "I've never seen such a thing."

Natsu took a small look over at the bloodied bodies of Ichigo and Renji, who she had also gotten the seals onto beforehand, and then over towards Aizen who was collecting her into his eyes. His head was cocked over pleasantly and his gentle smile came to his face as he continued to stare down.

"Who are you?"

"Natsu." She shrugged back slightly as she came up a little bit higher before bending her knees. "Nice ta officially meet cha."

"Oh… You're the one Izuru calls senpai. We met the other day." Gin yammered out as his hand slowly fell down to his sword. "What a pity."

Ichigo tossed over and was looking at the situation from the ground, and just as her eyes were flickering to him, Gin shot his sword out towards her wrist. Aizen was talking as she made out the sleight of his comrade's hand. She blinked for a few moments then moved her wrists down a slight touch before the blade could get all the way through her own shield. Her teeth gritted slightly and she shot him a long, hard glare.

"Ya stupid? Really think I ain't got ma own protection?"

There was a snarl along her lips which she tried to make mocking and offense to get him away from the attention at her body. She knew part of her mouth was curling up at the horrendous action, and then lazily stuck out her tongue to solidify her own nonchalance at his attack.

"Oh?" There was his own mocking frown on the serpent like face before it shifted back to his regular delirious smile. "Well, it was worth a shot. What should we do now Aizen?"

The man only put up his hand slightly as he continued to rattle off to Ichigo. Natsu supposed she really was second in his agenda, seeing has getting Rukia was the first. He dished out about how he knew the plans all along, revealing the information that he knew about Kisuke along the way. Natsu flickered her gaze over to the two other Shinigami that were in allegiance with the brown-haired captain a few times, as she listened in to the man's actual genius.

"I do have a slight problem from continuing my explanation, however." Aizen paused and Natsu stiffened immediately as his eyes came back over to her. "This… Kido, is it? - I've never seen it before."

"Cool."

"Not much of a talker are you. I guess I couldn't persuade you to release it."

Natsu ran her reiatsu through each of the veins until the shields around the person were getting stronger and stronger. It booked out until it was a strong square around the three prisoners in its containment. In its glory it was a red, crystallized box of six sides. Rukia was swirling her head around a bit as she was trying to figure out what was keeping her in with her bottom lip trembling and uncertainty on her unstable legs.

Aizen reached out to touch it again before turning back over to Natsu with that same smile on his face. "This… It isn't actually kido is it?"

Natsu smirked slightly and then shifted until she was absolutely upright. She gestured over to her arm with a dramatic flair and then waved it just slightly. "Half correct."

"One of your own invention… That's an amazing feet for someone of your stature."

"Huh? Ya talkin' grand Aizen."

Ichigo pounded slightly against his box and let out a yell to let him go, which disrupted the smiling contest between the two of them. Aizen looked over to him with a glance down and that deep seeded urgency from the younger boy brought him completely backwards to explain the crossover of the hybrids that he was trying to create of the past one hundred years. He went on to explain the truth of who Kisuke was, as an inventor of the Hougyoku, and then how the blonde was at fault for hiding it away.

Natsu blinked at the fox person that suddenly came and then the swing of the giant blade. Natsu tsked slightly and drew her other hand up to her face. The cords waved slightly and she pushed out more reiatsu to try and fill in the quickly sinking gap. The new piles of dust and air were helping to fan out the heat of her own body, as it was spreading further and further up. The steam was slowly letting out as well, and Natsu could make out the smell of her own putrid skin as she pumped as much through as possible to maintain the shields.

"Komamura-kun?"

Natsu's mouth fell slightly at the real sight of the seventh division captain. Everything about him had been hidden away since she had entered the Gotei 13, from the weird wood helmet that he always had on to the gloves with bracers that he adorned on his hands and his forearms. He even wore the chunkiest boots she had ever made out, but she had assumed it was just because of his giant body and not having sandals in his size. She had taken it just for paranoid protection from enemies, but it was really protection of his appearance.

Beneath that gigantic mask he hid away a fox head, and undoubtedly he was a fox everywhere else on his body. He was a brilliant russet brown color, with a paler color for his under jaw and his neck. His eyes were a brown color and his ears were already twitching, with what she assumed was anger and frustration. She briefly wondered in Iba had any idea what his captain hid away from the wandering eyes and whispering mouths of Shinigami.

Natsu let out a grunt and stabilized herself under the intense reiatsu that had peaked out and the release of a bankai by her. But before it could ever be accomplished the soon to be exiled captain used Kurohitsugi and captured the fox captain into the black. Natsu swallowed down and shifted her feet, since she knew that Aizen would be returning to her in only a few moments.

"You skipped the incantation for a 90th level spell. How terrifying!" Natsu blanched at the suddenness of Gin's words and the absolute amusement in them. "When did you become able to do that?"

"It failed. The power of the blast was not even a third of the full potential."

"Natsu!" Her eyes peered over at Ichigo was pounding at his box and glared down as she twitched her finger along to his vein so that she could concentrate down on his reckless behavior. "Get out of here. You're no match for a captain."

Natsu huffed out the slowest breath she could through her nose, before returning her gaze back to the conspirators. The growl in her head resounded slightly as she had emptied out as many thoughts as possible in order to focus on her goal. A small twerk at her lips linked up with the minuscule pang in her chest before she readied her face again. _Boke_ … _I already knew that._

"My apologies… We were a bit interrupted and I didn't finish speaking did I?"

Natsu let out a small laugh, though it was a thin from the lack of air. Aizen tapped slightly on the shield around Rukia's and Natsu gritted her teeth at the sensation that came wrecking up her arm and the look he thrust upon her. She felt the weight of his knowledge but pumped out as much more as she dared to under the look, before giving the man a smirk even as she felt the sweat pouring over faster and faster.

Aizen made quick work of explaining the elaborate plan to murder the entire bunch of Central 46. Natsu couldn't even feel saddened at the prospect, knowing that it was the end of an entire generation of rules and laws. She rolled her shoulders slightly at that knowing that it would make the movements up ahead easier to go through, before focusing back in on Aizen as he was finally turning over to her.

"Are you not at your limit yet?"

"Arre?" Natsu whispered out and then furrowed her brows before cocking her head. "Don't know wha'cha talkin' 'bout there."

"This is connected directly to your reiryoku, is not?"

"When did I say tha'?"

The man smiled again and nodded over to Gin. Natsu dropped her arm slightly, feeling the cut going through the folds of her skin. She grunted down and swamped her fingers around the veins extended from her arm so that they wouldn't cut off, as she dropped down to the ground. With her right hand now over the gush of blood by her bicep, she had to glare up at the man that was smiling still.

"Before I continue…" Natsu clamped down and glared the fiercest way that she knew how with her eyes going to slits and her brows furrowing tightly. "I don't really understand why you are helping the ryoka. What part do you play in all this?"

The chuckles started low with only small vibration in chest and then came roaring out of her. She was still cradling her arm, and still tucked into her kneeling position. There was no way to get up back onto her legs. Even if she wanted to, her limbs would have given out at any moment from the exhaustion of maintaining her kido. The situation, however, was entirely amusing, and a few tears leaked from her eyes and burned down her face becoming sweat.

"I've been stalkin' ya fo' forty years, and ya never noticed…. I feel proud." Aizen shifted slightly and his eyes came down into the first glare of the day. The sun no longer reflected his joyous mood as it was still burning brightly above them, or, perhaps, it was seeing as Natsu had no way of actually stopping him. "But, I'mma one of Kisuke's."

"You aligned with an exiled captain? That was rather daring…. Were you perhaps born on earth and sent here?"

"Where ya lookin' Aizen?" Natsu let out a small chide and tightened her grip onto the veins. "I graduated 'bout fifty-nine years 'go o' mo'."

"How curious. I wonder how I missed you." Aizen placed his hand a bit more onto Rukia's square and Natsu's mouth formed a grimacing sneer, while he returned to his bland amusement. "Then again, you look rather useless for my plans."

"Obviously… I knew 'bout ya the moment ya stepped inta tha class ta demonstrate ya shikai."

"Is that so?"

"Yup."

"What gave me away?"

Natsu spat at the mock curiosity on his face already knowing the plan that he was waiting to unleash. "I jus' knew."

"I see." The man paused slightly, examining her once more, and then turned over to the box with an inspecting look. "Well," he hand plunged straight in and collected Rukia up by the collar, "it's seems my assumptions were correct… This kido was meant to keep someone in, not out. In addition with it being connected straight to your reiryoku the more you pumped out the weaker it became as time went on."

Natsu finally dropped her left arm down groping for air to get back into her lungs. Her bloodied arm was long forgotten as she kneeled onto her two hands, one still clenching onto the remaining veins, while the other was digging into the dirt below her. Her eyes narrowed down and then shut into a tight squeeze as everything swayed before her, and she dragged in as much air before slumping down just a bit more to get over the quivering.

With her forehead against the ground she dragged up the cold, and exhaled out as much heat as possible. Beneath her the dirt was slowly disintegrating away with it puff of breath, which was like white smoggy clouds overcasting the sun or the grey clouds that always came and created that suffocating circle around the boom of a bomb. She breathed out more and more and she began to place all her reiatsu into the box where Ichigo was.

 _Abarai'll 'ave ta wait._

She slide her blooded hand down across the earth, forming the rough sections of a semi-circle over the gravelly plain. Her eyes petered over as Aizen jammed his hand into Rukia's chest and then retracted it to take out a small glowing orb that was covered up by his hand not long after. It disappeared completely into the folds of his robes and then he was picking up Rukia to hold out for Gin.

 _A'righ'._

She stood in front of Kuchiki Byakuya holding the sword into her shoulder. They had both done a quick step over to her in that one moment before Gin was getting his sword adjusted, and it was just a matter of who would reach her first. Byakuya came in, only sliding slightly behind her in a quickly fashioned half-step as Natsu flung herself into it. A quick peak over her shoulder and she could make out the warmer eyes of the man and the wave of shock that was passing through them.

"Wh—"

"Han' Kuchiki."

He looked down at her left hand that was folded towards him behind her back, whilst her right was still on the sword. He touched down on it slightly and the red came over him and Rukia, which only had him narrowing his eyes. The woman, whoever she was, was already at her limit, and as the sword was coming away from her shoulder it became even more apparent. He could make out the trembles in her back and then fashioning of her knees as they locked inwards. Rukia called out her name slightly but he could only focus on the sudden strength in her back and the flow of her words.

"Effervescent flow and unarmed lotus. Clinging raptures of life. Smoggy hands of bones. 5 cataracts and veins of life." Natsu breathed out and slowly came to a stand. She dragged her right foot in a semi-circle in front of her body, and let the blood continue to pour by nudging her fingers to widen the wound a bit. It made a small splutter and then flowed out. "Wall of penance and vengeance alike. History under the sun, and remorse under the moon. Shadows of anger and mocking sway to strands. Kai."

A thin sheet of red covered out the entire area that everyone was in as Yoruichi slapped down onto the Aizen's sword before he could draw it out. Soi-fon was also wrapping her leg around his other arm and then holding up her sword to his jaw line.

Even as the giants appeared it didn't prevent the expansion of her kid. The resurfacing of the second release had wires tripping and snapping out form her entire back and her arms, and holding onto the walls that were covering the four corners of her square. There was another thud but Natsu was focused in on the pound of her heart, and the increasing pressure as she built out the walls to become building thick like those of the Senzaikyu.

"What I can't see!"

Natsu let out a smirk as Ichigo was coated over in a heavy mist and she saw Aizen making a small trip to her face before she hunkered down again. She built up the walls that were surrounding the area at the back where she had circled her blood around the first time, keeping them thin enough until all the captains and lieutenants were completely inside before closing off the back with a small hiss.

"This won't let up." Aizen turned back over to her as she whispered out, even as her arms started to bulge up slightly she pressed forward. "It'll explode wit' ever'one trapped inside… Tha's tha problem wit' incomplete kido, ain't it?"

"You won't hold out much longer you know?" Aizen smiled down at her and she spluttered out a little more blood. "You're body's rejecting the force."

"Don't ya know who I am?"

"I have a few guesses."

Natsu swiped at her bloodied teeth and then grinned at the man, as she swallowed back another huge gunk of it that was swelling in her mouth. "Then there's only one way out fo' ya."

"Yes." He let out a small chuckle before everyone was tucking away from his and the grand lights of the negation came down. "It was time for that, Natsu…. I hope you finish your technique in time. I'd love to see the finished product."

Natsu turned her head up as she made out the rip in the sky. Gillians poured out the side, drenching the blue to black, with their faces and bodies clambering on top of each other into a messy stock pile of them. Then there was giant eye that was coming through as it slowly opened up until it was full and looming over them from the skies.

 _Fuck… This ain't wha' I thought. – How?_

Her vision deteriorated fast as it was becoming black up in the sky so she forced herself to look down and gain back the sense that she was finding completely difficult to manage. Even the breath in her lungs no longer felt like hers as she panted out.

Natsu gritted down into her injury and clasped onto her shoulder as the arm started to deform. It was like retained waves all along her bicep with the masses getting bigger and bigger. Splits were starting to come out and light shined brightly at the new seams in her arm until black seeped out. She flung herself out of the way as one of the bubbles popped and splattered up along the ground. The immense heat from the place swallowed her up hole and she fell down onto her knees as she tipped her head back as if the air would actually cool her off this time. Mist was the only thing that could surround her at the time, and she closed her eyes more tightly as she felt another burst in her arm and didn't have enough energy to even scream at the pain.


	10. Chapter 9

"Natsu…" The words whispered out to her and her eyes slowly blinked opened. She shut them again at the pain in her arm and the swamp of heat along her skin. "Natsu you need to release the barriers you put up."

She flickered over to Yoruichi who was holding her up by her right armpit. As she was about to say something she coughed up another load of black. Yoruichi shook her slightly and she heard the words like a memory along the ridges of her brain. Sekhmet was also speaking frantically, trying to push the fraying reiryoku into place.

 _Righ'…_

Her eyes slithered closed and she hammered her right arm into her stomach. Years of practice and sheer obduracy to her actual state pushed through her. If reiryoku was like the air inside a ball, then her body was the skin of said ball. With a few punctures it would help lessen the tension of the fabric and instead let the reiatsu, the omittance of her reiryoku, to slither out slowly instead of trying to burst open a complete side. Through the fists of jolting reiatsu she could get the punctures into her own pores to deflate the hyper extension, but it was merciless and left her stomach bruised for weeks.

Her eyes fluttered over the red coating everyone was trapped inside and then at the individual ones that were still in place. Magnificently they had stayed in place even though she was already pushing so much out, and was borderline unconscious. She smirked slightly at the improvement to it, knowing that it had stayed in place since she wasn't near her deathbed and would retain its form even if she was placed in an unconscious state.

She wheezed in slightly and then snapped her fingers a few times before all the shards of the walls around came tumbling down into the air. They had no time to reflect the light as they disintegrated almost as soon as the reiatsu and blood that held it together vanished. Yoruichi was swiping her head around and then came back at her with a thin grin along her face.

Her gold eyes shot off again and narrowed as she opened her mouth. "The one around Ichigo is still up."

"Tha's 'ealin' 'im too."

"Girl, take a look at yourself." Yoruichi helped her settle down until her bum was on the floor and her legs were in that 'W' position that always made her knees ache afterwards. "Your arm was almost blown up and you're running on your last fumes… Plus, Orihime is already waiting to get started."

"Sucks."

"You hate work Natsu." Yoruichi chided out again and Natsu flickered her eyes over towards the girl that was settling over the boy to start working. Natsu felt herself being moved again until she was on her back and looking up at the returned blue skies. "Ironically you've been doing a lot for us."

"More's comin'…. But can I sleep?"

"Go ahead. I'm sure Unohana will get to you soon."

"Nah." Natsu shifted around slightly and drew out her tanto and then pressed it into Yoruichi's hands. The cat glanced down at it with furrowed eyebrows and then over to her. "Jus' hold it ta ma arm."

"Bu—"

"I's okay."

Yoruichi swapped sides instantly and held up the tanto centimeters from her skin; starting at the wrist. There was a quaver and Yoruichi flashed her a look with her lips pursed, but Natsu puffed out a little air. She narrowed her eyes onto the tanto and it let out its heat again. The heat wasn't visible, of course. Her heat never was unless she wanted it to be or it reached that overbearing stage where it was impossible to handle. But the feeling immediately clung onto her skin and there was a prickle on her skin, and a small shudder, since the sweat had been cooling her off once it stopped being dreary weight and started to actually react with the air around her.

"You did exceptionally… Although I don't like that you pushed yourself at the end." Yoruichi stated out plainly and Natsu tossed her head over at the cat-lady.

Just behind her was Soi-fon who was leaning in curiously, with her sharp eyes raking over the scene and her arms crossed. Natsu felt the sudden pound in her heart and shifted over again to stare up at the sky as she let out a grunt. She forced back the knot on her tongue with a harsh swallow, but it remained clinging somewhere in the hollow of her vocal chords as it tied up along there. She grunted again and tried to wipe her away the resistance with another swallow, but it remained as firm as a rock used to the rapids of water around it.

Yoruichi let out a small sigh and there was the sound of the tanto shifting around. "We're still going to need your help… This week will probably be me with the Sou-taicho and the rest of the captains. I can count on your for this, right?"

"Course." Natsu let out a small bark and then glared up at the clouds that slowly passed over her vision. "Tha's wha' I've been doin' fo' tha pas' forty years."

"So you found it then?"

"Like I said before…" Natsu siphoned her eyes over to the gold eyes that were as firm as armor over the heart. "Don't ya know who I am?"

"That's what I would like to know."

The sets of eyes widened and then Natsu flopped her head over to see the Sou-taicho had made his way up. His cane was between his two legs, acting like an ornament to his old appearance rather than an actual walking stick, as he stood before her in his strong glory. His beard fell down to his belly button, and was wrapping up in cords of purple to stay in one place, while there were strips that hung down from under his nose as well. The rest of him was bald, and there were two intersecting scars along his scalp.

His eyes were nothing more than thin slats as they peered down at her, but she knew that he was looking at her to dissect her. She felt the flurry of his eyes, from the tanto by her arm, to the tip of her head and then back down to her toes. He dragged up as much as he could before he made way back up to her face and opened his two eyes just a bit more.

"What is your name Shinigami?"

Natsu coughed slightly and looked away from the keen eyes to gather back her thoughts before turning back over to the man responsible for everything. "Kotomi Natsu, sir."

"I see." There was a small smack of his lips before his cane tapped slightly. "I will require your presence at the next captain's meeting… Bring along anything you deem important."

Natsu blinked a few times and stared at the suddenly retreating back of the man before turning over to the amused eyes of the cat-lady by her side. Then she huffed letting her smirk slink into place as she turned back up to the passing clouds. There were scuttles going around and ears picked up the sounds of sliding footsteps against the gravel with that soft zipper sound and then the pick up at the end of the note as the foot lifted and again and then fell back with a crunch which turned into the zipper sound all over again.

She let out a small hum and her finger tapped against the ground as she imagined the full cacophony in her head. Her tongue started clucking slightly and finger then started to move horizontally along a line back and forth like a metronome as she went along with her incomplete melody. Her brain rounded out the rest of the sounds going to the tempo, but her mouth could only let the main melody resound out through the area of her mouth as she pressed on with a 'da' sound.

Her eyes shifted to a small close at the ricochet of the sun in the sky, and how it brightened out the blue until it was nearly impossible to look at. She squinted up and up and kept looking until her eyes watered slightly at the brightness right before her face. She only moved along when she felt a foot right by her ear and she trailed over to see the soft concern of Ukitake looking down at her.

He let out a small shake of his head as he roved over her. "You overtaxed yourself, Natsu-chan."

"I'll be fine, cap." Natsu thrust her thumb out with a cheesy grin before pointing her index finger out and giving it a small waggle. "Nothin' keepin' me down."

"I suppose not."

Natsu flopped her hand back down, weightless in the air, onto the ground where it snapped in a small bounce before lying out flat. The captain's face was worn and there were still the signs of residue anger in the tense shoulder and the down turn of his eyes. His tone had been completely lack luster and had just the smallest traces of the shadows sweeping into it.

She stared at the blanketed face with a frown coming to her lips, before her eyes narrowed down. The deadened eyes and that quavering as if digging a horizontal line in the earth was enough to try and make sense of all the happenings. Her fingers tensed up and then jumbled against the ground before she pettily threw a few pebbles at his feet. His head tore over to her and she let out a grumble at the surprise in his eyes.

"Wha's wit' tha look, cap? Ain't no one dead." Yoruichi snorted slightly and Natsu flashed her a look which she rolled her eyes at. Natsu turned back over at Ukitake who watched the interaction with cautious eyes and a mouth slightly open. "Not wha' ya 'xpected righ'… I'mma not who ya 'xpected."

His mouth closed for a moment and a wrinkled smile came along his face as he let out a small nod. A few longer strands of his hair came over his shoulder and flopped with a loose snap, and brushed along his chest as he twisted his head back up to her.

"I suppose you're not exactly what I expected." His smile twined a bit tighter along his face. "It appears this is the second time I've been completely taken off guard."

Yoruichi made an easy transition of the tanto along her arm, but Natsu knew there was a small stutter from the way the tanto sounded as it was moved up. She felt her heart seep to black. There was a flush of the happy toxins from her pride and from knowing that the secret was out in the open. Replacing it was the acid in her veins and the heat of her own smoggy remedy. Perhaps it was even a bit of the lion in her that was growling out to protect her baby cub. She all felt like the dead at the man's words above her and the demolition on his face and his tone. Her eyes quivered slightly and then she narrowed them down as a dark sneer appeared on her face.

"Tha's 'cause ya ain't listenin'… Ya ain't eva been listenin'." Ukitake take a small step away from her spitting flames and she crept up onto the helping hands even at Yoruichi's insistence to lay back down. "Ya ears been covered since tha' day.

"Natsu."

Natsu turned her eyes on to Yoruichi and the cat lady's mouth immediately closed and then the gold eyes held steady but the wall in them creaked just a bit more. With a hurl she tossed her arm away from the healing heat and then came to a stand right before the white haired man who was nervously fluttering his arms, insisting that she - at the very least - sit back down. His movements dropped at the ceramic of her face when his words were doing no good to settle her back down. She took a small step towards him, and his eyes tightened as they stared at her beaten form.

"Well listen 'ere cap… I'mma comin' ta save ya, and fix all yer problems." Her eyes flashed over to Kyoraku who was stepping closer as well. "So make sure ya listenin' this time 'round."

Yoruichi's grasp on her injured hand had her spitting around and hissing instantly. She let out a moan at the woman knowingly gripping onto a tender area. Natsu's whines increased as she settled for trying to pathetically twist her arm out of Yoruichi's grip; only to cause more grumbling. It only resulted in her being forcibly tugged down to the ground. She spluttered again and let out a small wail at the rough housing when she was already injured, but Yoruichi grinned maniacally at her and held up her own tanto threateningly.

"Ya such a meanie, Yoruichi…. Tha' rhymed."

Yoruichi poked at her shoulder and she hissed again, but the woman continued healing as she started talking. "You were uncharacteristically harsh on that one Natsu… Lay still and stop fooling around you child."

Natsu lingered on the stern look on the woman who had no patience for her whimsical childish side, before it was replaced by the slightly softened thankful look. Natsu swapped her gaze for the constant blue skies again and lay down silently.

Ukitake had already walked away and she was sure that Kyoraku was following, with Ise taking up the end of it. It was better for him to be out of her reign of fire. After a battle her blood was always pumping and she could hardly hear anything over the bloodlust of the lion that was prowling around in the sands of the inner world. It fueled all the rage she kept stealthily hidden away, but Ukitake had pressed at the small button. She knew that he was not talking about Aizen at all in that moment. The hurt in his eyes was too personal and the deadness spoke of someone almost intimate. She wouldn't have him bad mouthing people that were innocent under her watchful gaze.

 _Ain't no fuckin' way I'll let this continue._

 _You're being surprisingly sentimental._

 _… Ain't sentiment._ Natsu puckered her lips up slightly and rolled over the cloud that was loosely shaped into a fish. _I's ma orders._

 _Those were never your orders._

 _They were ma orders. Jus' not in so many words._

 _I see._

"Oh my—" Natsu shot here eyes up to see a very different blue as Ayako finally appeared at the scene. She was panting slightly and immediately dropped onto her knees by the use-able arm. "What have you done you idiot?"

"Che… Ya cryin'?"

"Honestly, I might."

Natsu let out another noise and looked over at Yoruichi who was watching the interaction with small flickers. There was a true blossoming grin along her fangs, before her eyes stayed riveted down at the wounds with a soft look. Natsu narrowed her eyes at the peacefulness in the cat lady's face. Huffing, upon not being able to read the cat's face, Natsu looked back at the woman who was still observing everything herself with very worried furrowed brows.

"Ayako stop… Ya suck."

"Stop instigating, child."

Natsu stuck out her tongue which received a smile followed by a small twist at her ear which Ayako knew she would never be able to get to. Natsu could only huff again and she kicked her leg up slightly as if she could throw a tantrum from her lying position. It only sagged back to the ground with soft tremors. Yoruichi was avidly snickering at the scene, and there was the soft burn of Ayako's faux ire at the taunt to sandwich her into place and capture her in one spot to stay for a long while.

"Do you know what to do with this?" Yoruichi gestured with her hand slightly at the woman, who immediately nodded and the two of them switched positions. "Thanks… I need to get my own rest."

"It's no problem Yoruichi-san." Ayako responded back diligently as her fingers slowly traced over the closing wounds a bit further down. "Has no one come over to set up the perimeter for reiatsu stabilization yet?"

Yoruichi was working out the muscles in her arm as her gold eyes lingered over the entire situation. The fourth division hadn't made their way over, and Yoruichi couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "It's probably because they think she's not so wounded. With Unohana putting her attention on Byakuya then no orders were issued."

"She always seems to be everyone's last thought."

Yoruichi turned over to the woman that was hunching slightly as she was taking her time to actually try and fix up all the damage. There was the canyon of wrinkles between her eyes and her lips were puckered up. One finger was trailing over the scars of the wounds that hadn't been healed over yet, and she was pushing her own kido onto them softly to not disrupt the heat that was Natsu's zanpakuto ability.

"We asked her to not bring to much attention to herself." The woman peered up for a moment and the hunched back down with rapture. "But it seems you took her under your wing."

"As much as she would let me at least." The woman twittered out and then let out another sigh, pushing back one of the pony-tails that had flopped over as she hunched down more. "I still think she's resistant to me."

Yoruichi smiled slightly and then turned her eyes to the fluttered eyes of Natsu, who head slightly tilted over to the side as she fell deeper into slip. The young woman's face slipped into smoothness and her mouth opened to show the true beauty of her teeth, which were actually just a normal set other than having a slight buck in her two front ones. Her lip had twisted slightly into a smile but it was mainly just a stretch along her skin, as it let out a few huffs of air.

"Now that's not true. You seen her hair?" Yoruichi pointed out and dragged up one of Natsu's pony-tails. "That's all you."

The woman jolted a bit with a small laugh and then nodded along with the smile remaining over her lips. "I'm Tachibana Ayako by the way."

"Nice to meet you Ayako."

The two women sat seated next to the dozing girl, only disturbed once when Yoruichi had to get the annoying fly of a fourth division member away. Natsu was in a sleep and that was more important than setting up any perimeter, and Yoruichi had no need to get healed anymore. The reverberations of Natsu's red film had come over her at the first release, and had already healed up the small wounds that she had received from Soi-fon. The most impressive part was that it had wiped away at the homouka of Soi-fon's ability, but Yoruichi had paid no more than a quick second on the thought before she was flying to help Natsu with her old assistant right on her trail.

Yoruichi's gold eyes fluttered over the girl that almost looked cuddled against the other woman, although there was still a distance between them. She impressed the thought that the girl's innate healing ability had increased since the last time they had seen each other, and how she was trying to develop it into a full time shield, while looking at the scene.

"You know," Yoruichi spoke after a bit, "I think you've probably done more than you think."

Ayako turned her head up at the woman seeing as the last of the seams had finally stitched together, although it still needed a lot of tending. "What do you mean?"

"Actually… You look a bit familiar?"

"Yeah… I was in the sixth division as a third seat under Ginrei-sama. Currently I am at the fourth seat do the rearranging under Byakuya-taicho."

"Ah." Yoruichi mouth opened in a slight befuddlement and nodded her head along which nearly rocked her entire body. There was no need to get too involved in the affairs of the place yet. "So you know the Seireitei's version of events."

"Pard—"

Yoruichi merely floated her hand in place to stop Ayako from speaking before using it to swipe at a few strands of hair in her face. Ayako pursed her lips slightly but let the cat carry on to what she initially intended to say. "Natsu doesn't sleep like that around anyone… It's nice to see that she found someone that she could trust in all this."

"You gave her a large burden."

Yoruichi let out a snap of laughter before smirking at the woman who was trying not to give her the true accusing demand that was subtly stated. "She took it on regardless of burden. You make an excellent mentor for her, if not a bit too concerned."

"And you've never been worried about your subordinates?" Ayako snapped out immediately and placed down the tanto to the side, which was slowly morphing into the full length of the girl's sealed katana. She then held her two hands over the injured arm and let out those green lights to help heal it up more. "She's a tough one, I know that."

"You're right… I hope you see know how much."

Ayako trailed her eyes over the serene face that was turned over towards her and the girl's deep breathes as she swamped herself with rest. It was completely contrasting to the arm that was still very much injured, which was probably even very different from how it had originally looked. Ayako's eyes narrowed slightly and she frowned even more until she could make out the indents of her down turned lips.

"It's good to care about her." Ayako picked her eyes over to the gold eyed woman who was twirling a piece of her hair between her fingers and looking at them. "She's needed someone like you."

"I don—"

"She's never had a mother."

"How did you know that?"

Ayako felt a small flush came over as she tried to gather a more protection position of the girl that could no longer defend herself. It had taken years to get that information out of the girl herself and she knew that it was not common knowledge that she simply handed out. Nothing ever was with Natsu.

Yoruichi only smirked and then fell back onto her two hands. "I've known her for a long time too. But I also knew her father."

"Is it," Ayako began but the words clogged up in her throat. Yoruichi quirked a small brow but Ayako stared adamantly back down at her patient. Gnawing slightly at her bottom lip, her thoughts seemed to pulse with a life of their own beating at the wall of her lips. Before she even could truly comprehend the burning words, she sacrilegiously asked, "is it Urahara Kisuke?"

Silence fell like a thicket of snow over the two of them as Ayako peered almost nervously towards the feline, who, in turn, stared openly back. The frigid, cold environment seemed to permeate around them as the rest of the world quieted and even the words between them became stale. Slowly, Yoruichi turned her head to look up at the sky as her chest expanded and then contracted with a slow breath. Her gold eyes narrowing slightly. At the same time, Ayako tore her attention between healing Natsu and the ex-captain who seemed to not want to answer the question.

As Ayako's mouth began to open again, Yoruichi silenced her mouth at the sternness in her gaze. "It's not Kisuke, but she listened to Kisuke in memory."

"So he's dead?"

Yoruichi made a march along the small spike of hopefulness in Ayako's tone. "No. He isn't dead either."

Ayako swallowed deeply and looked down below her at the girl and closed her eyes feeling that well coming into her stomach. She didn't need to voice out her theory and she didn't really want to know. Her fingers slowly clamped around the girl's forearm and wished she could drag up the bruises and cuts so Natsu was left with nothing but unmarked skin. She supposed that's what a mother actually wanted to do too. Her teeth gritted because there were no balms for the injuries unseen.

"She's very fragile isn't she?"

"Yes." Yoruichi nodded again and then swung her arm at the other woman's arm. "But you'll take care of her, I'm sure… So I'll leave her to you when neither Kisuke nor I can get to her."


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry for the delay guys and gals. Here's the next chapter. I guess you could say this is a bit of a slower chapter, but then again, I'm trying to balance the war/fighting aspects with character interactions and other aspects. I'm hoping that I'll be publishing another chapter later this week, to keep up some momentum.**

 **As for the last chapter, I got a lovely review from a guest! Thank you very much. I've been worried since I started thinking and writing about this story that Natsu might be too lopsided as a character; too strong or too weak. I want to place her somewhere in between, since that's always more realistic. Same goes for her character, as well. (I try to do this for all my OCs). Taking on Aizen was something I debated for a long time, so I just hope that I didn't overdo it.**

 **As for her father... Well, I'm sure there's speculation. I am curious about who you think it may be...**

 **As always, please comment/review, leave any questions, and let me know how I'm doing. Thanks!**

* * *

Natsu hummed slightly as she lingered on the blue sash that was strewn across her desk by her sealed zanpakuto. Her fingers drummed lightly along the hole that was shredded down through the off center section and nearer towards one end than the other. The threads were completely ripped. It might have been saved had it not also been for the singe of heat and ash along the parts that had been caught on the residual effects of her kido production. That, and the black gunk along with blood that had stained it long before she could get her hands to wash it out.

Her mouth pouted out and then twisted as her head cocked to get a slightly different angle of the ornament. Her eyes felt heavy as she was observing it, and she drifted her forefinger slowly over the fabric. It brought about a soft tremble, and her lips remained clamped shut as they came into a line along her face. It was smooth in the parts where the blue spotted through, and it had that soft plushness of cashmere but the rest of it was dried over and flaky with the paint of fluids.

She scratched at her head slightly, and then sneered at the arm brace that was biting into all the skin that it could touch around her neck and around her left arm. Unohana had forced her to wear it seeing the damage down to her bicep from the slash and from the first implosion of her skin. Natsu had done her best to refuse it, knowing that a lot of time had gone into healing the area already, but the captain was having none of it. Natsu only took it as a sign of being half forgiven for her insubordination and betrayal with the mandatory requirement to make sure she was 'healthy' from her captain, and swallowed up any more grumbles for the sticky smile along her captain's face.

"Natsu?" Natsu turned over at the knock and the call and peered at Ayako who was pushing the door to her room open slightly. "Well – You wanted me here so what's going on?"

Only a day had passed since the three captain's defection and things were running along at a smooth pace. The remaining captain's had taken up the extra work and almost all Shinigami who were not recovering or acting as healers were doing repair work around the Seireitei. The rest of the details like paperwork and all the accounting would be ironed out later once the initial healing process and restoration had finished.

In respect to the injured captains, a meeting wouldn't be held until the third day, so as not to delay the true telling of the events. It gave time for both Yoruichi to solidify the story and to communicate with Natsu about what should and should not be shared. For her part, Natsu was taking the time to rest up her left arm and to collect up all the evidence that she would need. She had to smirk because she was already imagining the look on Yoruichi's face, and then she shrugged to herself slightly.

 _Neva been good at listenin' ta direction._

"What's with that look on your face?"

Natsu jerked her head slightly to Ayako who had shut the door behind her as she entered the room. The older woman had been in the room several times before, but not in recent months; perhaps not even in the past year or so. Not that the room's barren appearance ever changed much. Her blue eyes took a gamble around the room. They fluttered around until a dark shape caught her attention from the corner of her eye, much like how a dot stands out on a slip of white paper. Those blue eye rested along the item that was stowed away in the closet with a warped curiosity before recognition finally filtered through as she cataloged the intricacies. She made a walk over towards it and then was running her fingers over the cherry wood, and then all the way over the pin and the stick, up to the brass ring.

"This is where you've been hiding this piece, huh?" Ayako tossed a grin over her shoulder at Natsu and then returned to looking at the object. "I wondered where it had gone."

Natsu's fingers gratted against the wood of her desk as they savagely took up the sash from the desk. It collected in the palms there, clenched into nothing more than a small strip in her hands, and then was wafting loosely at the air like a flag as it hung out on the two others sides of her fist. She moved dedicatedly up behind her mentor who was still looking at the object, and then flung the sash right over the woman's shoulder and let it fall how it pleased on top of the wood.

Natsu stared at her mentor's back at the new intrusion to the scene. Ayako stilled for a moment and touched the fabric as she traced at the damage and over the soft blue areas where it retained its memory. She said nothing as she slowly folded it up and then rested it onto of the spinning plate. The woman then turned around with a softened smile and a keen eyebrow raised. Natsu shook her head at that and then gestured over to the door where the woman followed her out.

The halls were surprisingly not super packed, although there were people rushing about from place to place. The worst of the injuries had been taken care of and everyone was in a stable position with Unohana's dedicated late night work. That way the nurses and the other Shinigami could linger a bit more in place as they moved swiftly but easily through the hallways to get to the patients that were having a bit more trouble with some of their injuries.

There was a murmur as they walked around. Natsu could feel the snaps of gazes against her and the covered up whispers as she passed along with Ayako. A swift glance at her compatriot said that she was well aware, but wasn't going to say anything.

The whispers started not long after the dust had officially settled along the hill top. Everyone knew of the ryoka's help and their saving grace at trying to hold off Aizen. Abarai was also let off with an easy scolding most likely, and remained in his position. Yoruichi and Natsu, on the other hand, were treated a bit more deftly with cuffs around their wrists. The wounds for betrayal were not taken easily and Yoruichi who was holding one hundred years of it was carrying a lot of it. Natsu, for her part, dealt with more heated and assessing glances as well as a few more smart remarks. She was pushed out to arm's length at her obvious knowledge that allowed her to be so unburdened by Aizen's betrayal, her helping of the ryoka, and the actions she took on the hill.

"Do they really need to whisper like that?"

"Che," Natsu snorted a bit on the syllable before flashing a smirk. "Tha whole story ain't tol' yet they'll pepper up soon 'nough."

Ayako paused slightly at that and felt a stutter in her heart at the kind of sickened look on her mentee's face and the grimace that was coming about. She could understand how the betrayal was blindsiding for so many, particularly because the three newly exiled captains had been so instrumental in teaching many of the younger generations, whom were now working as shinigami themselves. Ayako hadn't had much communication with any of those captains, but she had also never expected the betrayals so she also wasn't sure what to think. If she had been younger and not so infused with the teaching of Ginrei beforehand, she could just bring herself to scrap at the surface of empathy. She could only imagine how the whole of Seireitei was feeling.

Yet here she was following after someone who had all the answers locked up inside of her, and had had them there for so long. Ayako was following her out towards the less busy center of the walled city and more towards the green and forestry areas. She could only understand how unreliable Natsu looked and how the betrayal of her knowledge of secrets was probably tarnishing her image even more by now.

Ayako let out a sigh and then twisted her eyes around before bringing them back over the still twisted face of the girl. She twisted her head slightly to look at the girl and spoke out, "have any of your friends come by?"

"Rang' 'as… 'Kaku and Yumi' been helpin' ta keep eleventh stable fer now since so many got injured so they 'aven't but they will." Natsu gave a shrug and then nodded slowly as if affirming that was the true reason. "Tetsu' been wit' 'is cap, and 'Zuru needs more time."

"I didn't think Rangiku-san would be the first to confront you."

"She and Gin 'parently grew up togetha… She came by earlier, probably 'cause she couldn't sleep."

"How's she taking everything, then?"

Natsu shrugged again and then stuffed her one hand into her pocket, and hunched her head just a bit more. "Har' ta say."

* * *

 _Natsu grumbled slightly as she lifted herself up from the bed. She stared at the door that was rocking slightly in its frame from the memory of someone's pattern of knocks, and raked a hand through her hair. She jumped slightly and then scowled at the second pounding on the door, as she started to grumble out curses. It had not been her idea to stay the night in the barracks, opting to go somewhere else, but Unohana wanted to keep a close eye on her in case there were other unknown repercussions from the kido. The other ryoka were also staying in the fourth division as well, and Unohana was certain they'd like a more familiar face around them._

 _"Someone betta be dyin'." Natsu growled slightly and thrust the door towards herself. She blinked several times and then slumped down slightly onto the wood as she pressed her right hand into her eyes, one at a time. "Rang'?"_

 _"Can I come in?"_

 _Natsu raised an eyebrow at the woman but then knocked her head to the side and turned her body to create more of an opening for the woman to sweep through. If Natsu was the least feminine woman in Seireitei in terms of her looks than Matsumoto Rangiku was the absolute most feminine. Natsu stood just a bit over her, only by a few hairs, but Rangiku was all curves and ample bosom. Her shihakusho showed off all her assets; with the top coming down to push her breasts forward and the pink scarf only giving focus to them, and the white sash to siphon off her waist from the curve of her hips, and then flattered out the line of her legs. The woman's blonde hair came down in beautiful wavy tresses and blue eyes, and even a small birthmark on the underside of her pouty lips, to finish off the look of perfect beauty._

 _Natsu abhorred walking anywhere with Rangiku because the woman was sloppy. At first she had felt a bit inferior to the masses of oozing, ditzy charm and warm, bubbliness that came from the bombshell. Now Natsu didn't like walking because Rangiku was always trying to drag her to drink and if it wasn't to drink than it was to pick up guys. Natsu just didn't have the patience for it, and she fell asleep most of the time whilst Rangiku was making the moves._

 _The woman promptly sat down on the chair by her desk and slumped down. Natsu blinked a few more times before shutting the door. She ambled over to her bed, as she was busy trying to rearrange her face in a way that would make her seem more awake. It started with flattening the fringe along her brows and her forehead, and then cleaning out her eyes. It finished with her twisting all the long hair and then let it slip back along her back._

 _She took a brief moment to stare at the sun that was casting new shades along the sky for the first time of the day before turning over to the blonde. From the way the blue eyes fell, Rangiku must have been studying the process in their silence before dropping away when she was turning back. It was Natsu's turn to do so._

 _The woman had swung the chair around so that she could slump heavily forward, and non-demonstrative to the finesse of being a woman, she had her two legs on either side so that she was straddling the piece of wood. Her elbows wrapped around the two small spokes that stuck out from the back poles and her forearms were straightened against the top of the chair so that she could rest her chin into her own arms._

 _The woman had also foregone all the ditz and glam of her look to have it twist into a sodden expression. Her eyes were downcast and there were small smudges of red around them, probably from rough rubbing. Her lips were slightly open and every now and again there was a soft tremor through it, which she would suck in until she opened up her lips again. The normal waves along her head were falling in heaps and drenching her frame, instead of helping to bring out her face which she was trying to keep hidden in the shadows just a bit more._

 _"Why?"_

 _Natsu narrowed her eyes at the nip in the tone, but it mostly registered as a warning not to pull off any jokes since it was breathed out with a wetness that was lapping at her own toes. "Can ya be a bit more specific Rang'? I can't read ya mind."_

 _"Why Gin?"_

 _"I don't know." Natsu blinked a few more times and the woman huddled a bit more into herself, pressing her cheek into her arm instead of her chin. "I don't know tha why… I jus' know they did."_

 _"I-"_

 _There was a sharp tug at her tone and Natsu heard the heave and then saw the shudder that went along the woman's back. Ragged breathes came out and when they wouldn't stop the blonde twisted her head until it was forehead pressing against the wood. Her hand gripped tightly to what they could to hang onto to gravity and keep her right on earth._

 _Natsu watched the small glimmer of a tear and then heard the splash as it came in contact with the wood. There was a shift of fabrics and then the woman's head tossed up and Natsu was looking into the blaze of ice that was normally reserved for the woman's captain. Her lips were open with unspoken words and clamped shut as another sob came out of her, yet she kept those frosty blue eyes on her frame._

 _"I can't answer ya question, Rangiku."_

 _"Why didn't you say anything to me?" There was a harsh scramble along the other woman's tone which was not a growl put a tug along the vocal chords as she spoke through another sob and the tears in her throat. "You knew- You knew this whole time. Didn't you?"_

 _The last part of the woman's sentence finish in the low whisper of disbelief that left Natsu silenced for a while. The two women dropped their eyes to their respective places before Natsu was sighing and dragging her eyes up from the floor boards right by the leg of the chair and back up to the woman._

 _"You wouldn't have believed me." Rangiku lifted her head up sharply at that and pressed her lips firmly as they looked at one another. Natsu continued even though she could see the new swell of tears from the melting ice. "But I never lied to you, Rangiku. You even mentioned it to me, remember? I never once referred to them as captains. I always used another term."_

 _"But—"_

 _"Would you really have wanted to hold that for forty years until you had actual proof of what they were doing?" It was unsaid but understood that Natsu needed no convincing before she had even found proof on them._

 _"It hurts anyway," came the faint whisper of her reply._

 _It took a long moment of breathing and then there was a harsh shudder, and Rangiku flung from the chair, leaving it toppled on the floor in the wake of her movements. She made an uneasy trot until she was along the bed with Natsu, and pressing her head into the crook of her neck._

 _Natsu pulled her arm up and around the slim shoulders and held her through the quakes of her betrayal and the crash of her reality. Her long fingers made bed into her hair and scratched every now and again as the woman shed off as much as she could in the weight of her heart. Natsu then placed her cheek onto the woman's head in reverence to her friends' pain and nodded to it as the sobs continued to come even when they were nothing but dust and dry like the desert._

 _The pain of being left behind just never fully left the clench of the heart, and always laid there with its fingers in a firm enough grip to never be shaken nor stirred away. In time it just became common place, so that it was no longer remembered as a separate part of themselves or the foreign alien intrusion that it was at the moment. They breathed together like that with the air quilted and blanketed with that knowledge and humid with tears unshed and shed._

 _It was only when the blonde finally finished her clinging and lay up against her skin that Natsu spoke again. "I ain't gonna say sorry, Rang'."_

 _"I know."_

 _Natsu casted her eyes over to the small object in the corner of her closet and then back down to the floor as she pressed and then patted down at the blonde. They had known each other for a long time. Rangiku was just entering the academy and Natsu set on graduating after her sixth year. Somehow they remembered each other, with their few brief encounters during that one year and when Natsu came back to the Gotei 13, and stuck up a decent friendship; although it wasn't popularly known and no one put the two women together to get along. Now this was just another link in their long chain of friendship that they could hold together, Natsu supposed, if they made it through the next months._

* * *

Natsu popped her shoulder into Ayako's to get her to turn, and the woman stumbled through the movement at the sudden jab. She had no moment to comment as Natsu continued walking along, and was heading further and further into the forest. Surrounded by trees, the shadows were clinging heavily. There were in a heavy grove and barely any sunlight could get through the shading of the ground and leaving it near black. It was tough to feel if there were any holes or uprooted roots or even scraps along the turf before she was tripping over it. Ayako was left to wonder how many times Natsu was walking this path alone, if she never stumbled once as they made their way through.

Suddenly Natsu came to a stop and her hand bit into the air, until the cloak of kido was tearing away from the rest of the fabric. She heard Ayako's small whisper at her back and there was a hand between her shoulders as the woman stepped over to her side. Her eyes flickered over to the seasoned Shinigami and saw the harsh set in her face and the narrowness in her eyes as she was looking at the door.

Natsu placed her fingers right onto the door knob and twisted it a few times. The door knob was reiatsu sensitive which was a smart move on Aizen's part. She had always gotten just this close to the place and had never actually gotten into the room, though she was sure she knew what it hid. She couldn't help but let out a shudder and the ghost of the man's grip was left on the cool metal.

"Hadou 4: Byakurai." She whispered out as her hand pushed down on the metal and held it tightly in her clutches.

The door knob broke from underneath her fingers and she tore it out from the lock and dropped it as soon as possible. Ayako shifted a bit more and pressed her hand onto the door and Natsu had no time to question the woman before the door was burst away from the hinges and falling with a clatter a bit away. The lights flickered on immediately once the door was sprung and the two women looked in at the lab that was suddenly very apparent to them without bothering to question either of the methods used to get inside.

"I won't ask you how many times you've come close to this place."

"Don't go tellin' tha' creepy cap either, yeah?"

"Oh I won't." A vicious smirk came along Ayako's face and she gestured for Natsu to enter first.


	12. Chapter 11

There was no price to Ayako's secrecy really, but Natsu paid it by letting the woman scour the place with her. Not that she would have had it any other way. It was the reason that she had invited her mentor with her in the first place; other than needing another set of hands for whatever was to be revealed in terms of evidence. That way she'd only have to make one trip from the cold confines of the lab back to her room.

It wasn't a dingy place at all. It would most probably be described as the opposite, in fact; with a overdone, gloomy walk way, which opened off into a wide space. It had a rounded off roof, although it was square in shape with each corner sparse of any cobwebs or dust. No light was allowed in from the outside but it was illuminated by the motion sensor lights that turned on as they moved along the areas that were once touched in the shadows. The main room held nothing more than a large computer with a large screen that was up against one of the walls. With its high tech gadgetry, the overbearingly modern yet grand laboratory, rivaled the traditional styles which made up even a single barrack of the Gotei 13.

The computer was the most used object, as it became clear from the obvious ware of the chairs and even the keyboard. Thus, it became their first place of action as the two women loomed over the keyboard to figure out how to navigate the system. Natsu pressed a button and snorted because the man had been so sure about his status, his illusion, and his untraceable movements in the Seireitei that there was no passcode or password to prevent her from getting into the computer. There was also no other type of security that might have wiped at the mainframe like a reiatsu reactor or a touch sensor.

The man was also highly attuned to having an organized space, because all the files were labeled by date and it was easy to scroll through all the different experiments that he had done. Although the notes themselves weren't very developed, with nothing but quick remarks for his own personal use to jog his memory, it was enough to make inferences from. Ayako even pulled out a few blocks, from somewhere underneath the desk, that were memory files from even further back than the twenty years that were on the main computer at the moment.

"This is impressive." Ayako breathed out as they ran their eyes over the images of the home videos the main had stored up. "Horrible but impressive."

Natsu slumped down into the chair and pressed her cheek into her right hand as she leaned on it. Long gone was the voice that said Aizen had once sat there. There was, however, the dreary drag that was going over and over her with a gag in her mouth and a coldness in her veins. Her eyes moved off to the side knowing that throwing off the images already cemented in her mind wasn't possible, but she could prevent new ones from forming. Her heart felt slowed down and like a faint memory as she sat heavily down into the cushions and let it support all of her weight.

"Natsu?"

She let out a small hum as her fingers touched down and up along her temple. She could make out the small sound as the skin clung together and then came apart with the smallest breathe and 'siup' noise. Her eyes fell closed into her wrangling depths which was like millions of hands pulling her down just a bit deeper. There was a cling to her shoulders and she was screaming out and thrashing to get out, until she felt the heavy press of fingers against her head. They began to comb through her hair and would pat down on her head every once in a while. Then it slipped to the back of her head and it forced her forward lightly until she was stumbling out with a whisper fluttering by her ear to 'stop hiding' as that extra push.

"Natsu?"

"Yah." Natsu blinked a few times and moved right slightly until her hand was moved over her ear and her own fingers could press into the back of her nape of her head. "I'mma tired."

Ayako stayed silent for a moment, drifting her eyes over to her charge and her sunken frame. The young shinigami's eyes had a definite glaze simmering just on top of them, something not unfamiliar with her normal presence, but there was an added sense of gloom which normally wasn't there. Ayako remained with her mouth fastened shut, letting the girl wrangle herself into new momentum instead of pressing for her abnormal flightiness.

Natsu got up immediately, under the light press of eyes and the cold quiet, and traversed away from the desk and over to a few drawers that she had spied out whilst she was doing her best to not imagine what visuals went along with the screams she could hear echoing from the screen. She dug through them as best she could until her fingers twitched around an item. She spied over the top of the metal cabinet as she slowly dragged out the object which was a circular thing that had a watch face in it. The only difference was that it had a date imprinted on it and was stopped at the 2:10 am mark.

Her mouth opened slightly as she took in the more details of the rounded orb, which was see through and durable under her fingers. She didn't want to test it in case of being wrong, but Natsu had the strong feeling that it was near impenetrable on the surface. Her eyes narrowed down slightly at the feeling as she pressed on it a bit more as her fingers traced over the blue words. They looked like they were drawn on the top but were actually molded just on the inside of the surface. The same went for the time as she dragged a finger over it.

There was a jolt in her chest and her eyes opened slightly as she brought the object slowly up. Her hand trembled under the weight of the piece of unpassable evidence and choked on a few laughs as she realized on desperate Aizen must have been to keep the object right by him.

"Ya stinkin' fucka."

"Natsu?"

Natsu turned back towards the woman and threw the object at her mentor as she ambled back to the desk. The chair swerved a bit from the sudden kinetic energy of the sluggish girl, who sat just a bit too fast. She pulled herself back up to the desk and hefted the drawer of the memory files onto her lap. Her fingers made easy work of going through the hundred years of history and experimentation he had done, and snagged at the right file which lifted easily from the box.

She paused just slightly before opening up the case which held her golden ticket of evidence and felt the stutter of her whole body. She tore at her lip for just a second before blinking once and placing the disk into the computer. Lava ran through her veins from the bursting volcano of her heart until she felt herself slowly hardening out again as she watched the computer flicker into new life, the hard drive fan pushing out waves of air. The screen remained black for all of two seconds, of which were used for mental curses and a chiding zanpakuto voice. Natsu pasted on her look and paid conscious attention to the way her face was pulling and would reign it back in immediately when it shifted out of place.

When she finally breathed out again it was because the note was so singular and so peaceful. It was simply words written down and yet there was the burst she had been waiting for and the gimmick was all over for the man that had gotten away from crimes one hundred years ago. She let out a huffed chuckle and immediately was throwing herself back into the chair as she started to longue again as she took in the screen with a smirk.

"What is this?" Ayako breathed out from just by her done looking at the orb with confused eyes. "Is this what you wanted to find Natsu?"

"Partly."

Ayako moved her head over to the younger girl who was sitting upon her thrown in triumph like she had just won the war. Ayako's felt her own smile coming to her face and she watched the exhaustion drain away from the girl just a bit, as she squirmed around to go and figure out a way to get it printed. It was the first time ever seeing something so exuberant and the girl's face illuminated the entire room with her smile and her energy.

"No tellin' Yoruichi."

Ayako blinked a few times and narrowed at the finger thrust in her face before looking up at the spark in the girl's eyes. "I won't… If that's what you want."

"Yes. No tellin' anyone at all." Natsu patted down slightly at the chair before hefting herself up, and then she loomed slightly over her mentor as she smirked down at her. "I'mma gonna turn this place inside out."

"What exactly are you looking for Natsu?"

"Evidence that tha Central 46 ain't neva gonna be able to refute."

* * *

Natsu left Ayako behind her once they got back to the main hub of Seireitei. They'd go back the next day and do another sweep before the meeting and bring a printer to get all the evidence out in cold hard pages. Undeniable even under the old man's failing eyesight, Natsu was so absolutely sure of that it powered her walk the entire back.

 _So sweet._

 _Are you sure this is the right way Natsu?_

 _Is there a righ' way, really? I's only evidence they need._

Natsu whistled out a small tune as she started down the halls of the fourth division again. Her fingers were stuffed into the folds of her pockets again, and she was in her usual pander to gravity as she was slouched. Her head was gently swaying to that invisible tempo in her head which was slightly different but her feet were making those usual half-steps like she was skulking around the area as she continued to move in the right direction.

"Yo."

Natsu turned over slightly at the orange haired boy who was jogging out of the division and raised an eyebrow. "Wha's tha hurry?"

"You're captain is terrifying."

"Ya tellin' me." Natsu let out a huff and jostled her left arm. "I don't even need this yet I gotta wear it ta make tha woman back off…. Wha'cha do?"

"Nothing, I was just walking."

Natsu let out a small hum and then over the boy's shoulder to the entrance where no one seemed to be coming out. Her eyes trailed back over to him. Ichigo had been healed by Orihime by her ability, which Natsu was going to have to ask her about later, but it had done well. There was absolutely no evidence that he had been in a fight at all. He was back to being all lean muscle and fully functional, and standing to his full height which was just slightly below hers when she was upright. If it wasn't for Unohana he probably would have been wandering around the place, but he had been cooped up all day like a dog in the kennel.

"Le's go."

"Huh?" The boy scratched at his cheek and she merely flung her hand out and thrust her thumb over her shoulder. "You mean out?"

"Yer wit' me. It'll be fine."

Ichigo did a small shuffle as he peered cautiously around his shoulder at the wide courtyard in front, which was mainly covered in gray bricks except for the yellow-ish ones that went right up to the small set of stares.

The building was a long stretch across the area, and was all on one floor unlike some of the other division. It had sloping upside down 'V' shape at the front entrance, with the bold fourth division kanji written on the front. The entire roof was green tiles, and the inside was kept either white or an off tan to help keep the mood peaceful and sometimes more somber.

There was a building just behind that was the main relief station and was three floors so it could be seen over the smaller stack which was the main offices in front. It wasn't directly attached. There was actually a small open pathway between those two buildings that was open to a grassy courtyard which was used for recreation time and for quiet observation of patients on the mend. The grassy area was more extensive than people usually thought and there were outcroppings of different buildings a long it with different types of rehabilitation rooms. It was also in that area that Natsu so easily hid in plain sight.

"Right, let's go." Ichigo stated and slipped over the invisible line that had blocked him before hurrying just a bit further away until he was around the corner. "Let's go."

Natsu let out a sigh and then trailed after him, until he decided to slow down and start walking next to her. He glanced cautiously over at her a few times, which she saw from her periphery, but he never spoke a word. They settled into something of a comfortable silence, and it allowed her to slouch just a bit more into her own body.

"So," Ichigo paused slightly from only a small shift in her head as she angled more towards him, "How's the arm?"

"'eal'd up. Ma cap's jus' bein' mean ta me 'cause I didn't tell 'er anythin'."

Ichigo grunted a bit and nodded slightly as he watched her roll out the shoulder with no traces of pain on her face. "How'd you get tangled up in all this anyway? It looked like only Yoruichi-san and you knew what was going on."

"I owed Kisuke."

"He save your life or something?"

Natsu smirked slightly and then shook her head. "Nah… He was jus' too pretty."

Ichigo let out a flabbergasted tumble of words before he stopped the waterfall and settled on a sigh. He didn't really know what to make of the woman beside him, with her slouch and her deadpan look. He knew she was good at healing, and that she had helped out. He trusted her just for doing all that even though she didn't wasn't helping his impression all that much.

"Don't worry too much, yer head'll 'mplode." Natsu shrugged again and waved him over so he could make the turn. "There's lots ya don't know or need ta know."

"Is that your way of saying you won't tell me?"

Natsu gave him a pert eyebrow and then turned back to drape her way down the corridor they were walking on. She shrugged again before moving on. "Not tha' I don't think ya should know."

"Oh?"

"Ichi," the boy flustered at the nickname that she suddenly sprung on him and then settled at the sudden coldness in her face. She leaned slightly in to him as she started to slither out, "Ya an idiot, ya won't get all of it."

"You're pissing me off."

"There's a clock tickin' and mo' characters'll show up." Natsu moved around to his other side and then slumped her arm onto his shoulders as they started walking. "Ya won't get wha' I'mma sayin' but tha's tha truth."

As hard as he tried, Ichigo actually couldn't get out of her grip until she was done with what she was saying. Then she crashed down to the floor with a squawk of indignation as he flung her arm from his shoulders and complained bitterly about how her bum hurt her the whole way to the restaurant. Then once they got to the restaurant she almost tried to push paying off onto him as compensation for hurting her and almost treated the whole thing as a date, but he got her to pay before they had to do a dine and dash from the place.

When they got back to the division, she let out a small whine when her fukutaicho immediately swooped in and started a protest, which only resulted in the odd, haired woman stuffing a finger into her ear. She then let out a small parade of words until the fukutaicho was leaving in a huff. Natsu then showed him a not-so-secret, secret peace sign up by her cheek while sticking her tongue out, and left Ichigo with a huff on his breath at the childish behavior.

Ichigo actually felt something in him lift a bit and he found himself chuckling as he watched Natsu slink her way down the halls of her division. She was so casual about everything, yet had a firm foot planted into the world with that watchful catch in her off-colored eyes. Ichigo felt himself being put at ease and letting her take care of the surroundings. He wouldn't ever deny that she was weird, Ichigo nodded firmly to himself as he walked back to his room, but he'd gladly take her presence over other overbearing people in the Seireitei.

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 **A/N: As promised another chapter this week. It's a bit shorter than the others so far, but, I guess, this story is meant to have a slower start... And I hope you all don't mind the creative license that I've used to try and piece everything together.**

 **Comment/Review.**

 **Thank you!**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Finally, Natsu is going to her meeting with the captains... As I mentioned in the disclaimer before, I did take some creative licence, so the dates and information about certain events are all made up by me. Please don't take them as truth.**

 **Comment/review/question.**

 **Thank you.**

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Ayako slowly handed over the small box of all the material that they had collected over the past two days, and Natsu whined a bit as she started to balance it between her hip and her arm. She fumed at holding it and looked over at the woman who only patted her on the cheek and then wandered away with a few short words of encouragement. Her cheeks puffed up as she glared at her mentor's receding back, and then she swathed her face over with a deadpan. Just one more grumble for good measure as she jumbled the box a bit against her body, before she began walking.

"If only I had ma otha arm." Natsu frowned and wiggled the arm a bit in the holster that it was still in with Unohana's promise that it would be off by the end of the day. She puffed some air out of her mouth which fluttered her fringe. "I'mma takin' it off even if she says no 'gain."

 _And face her wrath?_

 _….. Shudup. I ain't scared of 'er._

 _That's not what you were saying two days ago._

 _Shudup. Ya suck._

She hefted the box once more and started down the halls on the second deck. Ayako had been good enough to carry it for it from the base all the way to the first division where they were stopped outside for ten minutes waiting for them to clear their entry. Calmly the guards - shinigami of the first division - searched through the box to catalog the contents, asking a few mandatory questions about their visitation to the meeting, and a third-degree to the unannounced second party. Ayako carried it all the way up to the second floor, under the strict promise to the guards that it would be as far as she went before turning around.

Natsu grimaced again at the large doors that were before her and then shuddered. She was already having a reaction to the stiff air that seemed to be coming out from the place and she'd almost rather go a finish her paperwork which had been left taunting her for a few months now. Even with never having been there before, she couldn't spend the time marveling at the grandeur of the place. She was getting sick at imagining all the work that people had to do for the Sou-taicho and how uppity he must really be with his cankerous mood; not that she had ever heard anything much about working in division one except for the fact that it was loyal.

The doors swung open and Natsu blinked a few times as the doors creaked open at a turtle's pace and then, like an almighty tug had been administered, were suddenly nothing like an obstacle as they bumped against the walls behind them. Her eyes took in the two lines of the remaining captains; evens on one side, odds on the other. The Sou-taicho sat at the front with his lieutenant slightly off towards the right. Her eyes did another toss as they took in the fact that no other lieutenants were there, except for the Sou-taicho's.

Yoruichi was resting on her calves up in front of her and beckoned her quickly with a flick of one hand. Natsu dumped her head slightly as she entered and then did her normal sloth step up to where Yoruichi was. Promptly she dropped the box with a dramatic arm out to the side, letting gravity take hold of it, where it let out a deep thud and a few jangles as the trinkets inside it moved around with the momentum.

As she took a cross-legged position on the ground, she hoisted out a few words. "Nice ta meet cha. Name's Natsu."

There was silence for all about three seconds before Kyoraku let out a laugh which covered up Yoruichi's sigh to just about every one else except her. First Natsu peered over at saw the small roll in the cat lady's eyes though they were avidly amused in the coils of the gold. Second, she peered over her shoulder with a smirk at the man that was clutching onto his stomach with one hand whilst the other was tilting his hat down to try and choke out the snickers. It did no good since the laughs weren't stopped and they drifted around and under the obstacle with the wind.

"I don't know why you are relaxed, child." Natsu shifted back up to the old man at the front who had only adjusted slightly. "You too are under suspicion for teaming up with three exiled captains and insubordination of over forty years."

"Didn't Yoruichi tell ya?"

"Natsu-san," she turned over to see that Unohana had taken a bit of a step out of the line so that she could make her statement that much clearer. "Please fix your behavior this is an official proceeding and deserves your utmost respect."

Natsu took in the open eyes and the serious line along her captain's tone, before drifting back up to the front where the old man was waiting. There was nothing moved in his appearance to suggest that, except for the continuous stare at her. She let out a deep sigh through her nose and then fixed herself until she was sitting like Yoruichi on her calves. Her back was already killing her from sitting up straight and she grumbled just under her breath about stogy old people and how they can't relax, as she adjusted her garments just a bit.

Once done with her arrangements, she gave a deep bow and then came back upright. "Kotomi Natsu, twentieth seat of the fourth division, Sou-taicho."

"I'm aware." Natsu stopped herself from actually rolling her eyes this time and settled on tucking her lips down just a bit at the old man's statement. "I also remember you…. The one that transferred from the Kido Corps forty years ago and has not shown anything to account for your apparent abilities."

"Yeah... Tha's-"

"Sou-taicho," Yoruichi jumped in with a small hand up to gather the attention back to her, "that was a decision made by both myself and Kisuke. We deemed it more important for her to remain unknown to be able to move around without attracting Aizen's attention."

The old man nodded slowly and then faced her again. "Then why not remained unseated?"

"Tha's 'cause of ma cap."

"Retsu please explain that statement."

The head medic stepped back up to the front and faced the man with a slow nod. "I was well aware of her potential and though I was unaware of her true reasons for wanting to remain a low seat, it was the only compromise that fulfilled both mine and her own requirements."

 _Pft... I really jus' don' wanna do any work._

 _Natsu pay attention._

 _Shudup._

Natsu drummed slightly against her thigh as the captains whispered slightly and the old man was ruminating in his thoughts. The proceedings were going much slower than she had anticipated, much to her surprise. She had heard of the man's temper, which was just like the flames of his zanpakuto, and expected for him to try and talk over all her words just to get her out of the room. Yet here she was waiting for him to process thoughts and come up with the right questions to ask her.

"Tell me Kotomi Natsu…" She peered up at the man and he shifted the cane so it tapped slightly at got the room silent. "Tell me how the events proceeded from your point of view."

"Well, I was wit' tha Kido corps. Sent on a mission ta tha human world which does happen, although they mainly stay up 'ere in tha spiritual realm." Natsu broke off a bit and cleared her throat. "I got injured and the res' of tha team was dead. Got a few suspicions it was one of Aizen's experiments, but can't confirm tha' yet."

"That is when you first met Urahara Kisuke?"

"Ya… He found me bleedin' out and brought me back ta 'is place ta 'eal. When I woke up I was goin' ta kill 'im but he tol' me this story from 'is perspective of wha' 'appened hundred years ago."

"And you were just convinced by that?"

Natsu snorted and shifted slightly as she pulled down on a bit of her fringe. "'Course not. Took three years before I was convinced."

"What convinced you?" The voice had her turning around and she fastened onto Ukitake who had cut through her sentence whilst she had been breathing. "Was there an event?"

"Well, no…. I had a free day an' came to visit a few friends from the academy, an' spied on Aizen fo' a bit an tha' was tha'."

"How foolish." Natsu's face pulled slightly and her eye twitched at the obnoxious voice that, though far enough away from her, still felt close to her ear. Mayuri was just like that with his higher pitch and that snivel in his tone. "I refuse to believe that you just spied on a captain and then just believed in what a convict would say."

"Well, I was righ' so does tha' really matta?" There was a hiss from the scientist and she smirked slightly before shrugging just to infuriate him a bit more. She heard the stomp but she never strayed from the man up front who was watching her closely. "Anyway afta tha' I went through tha' history an' all the reports an' found a few things missin' an' kept followin' 'im until 'e slipped up."

"I see… How much time passed between your transfer and that moment? And what exactly was it that you found?"

Natsu rolled out her shoulders and made a swift tug at her top before responding, "'Bout two years? I followed 'im inta tha forest up by quadrant 126."

"That's near the academy grounds."

"Yeah." Natsu nodded slowly. "I's right by tha grounds but slightly off from 'em… Anyway I followed 'im ta 'is base camp and overhear' wha they were talkin' 'bout which was some kinda experiment in the human world."

The old man grunted slightly and gestured for the lieutenant to go and collect the box by her side. She watched as he did so and brought it up to the man with silence that came from deference and the quaver under immense power. When it was back up by the old man he roved over it slightly which ended with him placing a hand down on top of it.

His eyes slowly opened and came back at her. "This is your evidence?"

"There's more, 'course… But this is wha' I wanted ta bring ya today."

"Please inform me and the rest of the captains what's in this box."

Natsu cast a small look over at Yoruichi who was facing ahead with her curious eyes on the box. At the silence the cat turned over to her and when she did Natsu gave a triumphant smirk before waggling her eyebrows. She received a narrowed look and something akin to nervousness from the older woman but she only smiled again.

"A'right." Natsu slowly came up to her feet and placed her hands behind her back. "I 'ave printed off Aizen's notes on the date of May 4th in 1900."

"Why this particular date?"

"Huh?" She looked over her shoulder at Rangiku's captain and raised an eyebrow at him, where he squirmed just slightly and tossed his head to look away from her mock. "Boke… Didn't cha eva read a textbook?"

He growled slightly but there was another shift and Natsu fell over to Kyoraku who was looking pale in the face. Yoruichi was forcefully tugging at her arm to get her back down so that she could berate. Natsu frowned and got her arm back from the woman and returned to narrow her eyes down at the cat lady who promptly kept her mouth shut. There was the ever watchful piercing gold gaze on her from the cat, and she nodded slightly which eased off the tension from the lady.

"One hundred an' one years 'go on tha' night'Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Tessai were all exiled… An' it ended wit' tha faulty arrest and imprisonment of Ayake Ichiyuko." Natsu spoke out plainly and slowly to the slowly quaking room.

There was a rupture with a loud series of coughs, which most likely came from Ukitake, although she didn't look. Then a massive spikes in the humidity in the air from the tethering reiatsus that were picking up from all the captain's. Natsu felt the joint pressure of the weight of her words, and the subconscious reeling over everyone in the room. It fell down hard, like a sword going through her shoulder and then down through her cutting through all her organs and resting in her stomach.

She was doing exactly as ordered by her forty years ago by Kisuke. The true order had been to only bring it up if she had enough evidence, and she now had a whole lab full to put the blame back onto Aizen. It wouldn't get them redeemed. It wouldn't erase the orders put out by central 46, but it would be the obstruction to the last part of the mirror. First she had to wipe off the cobwebs by talking about the events like she had, and then she'd be cracking into it once the pressures stopped.

Her confidence wasn't deteriorating which made her speaking hard. Instead she felt like her life force was slowly seeping away to the other people. They were all trying to grab onto her and drain her of what she could provide them, like almost dead leeches that had to drag in all the blood from their victims to fully restore themselves.

"You claim it to be all on Aizen then?" Sou-taicho broke out.

Natsu slowly pulled back and blinked a few times at the change in the room. Somehow all the captain's had come in closer and there was a break in the uniformity as they huddled. They were waiting cautiously with expectant eyes as she roved around them not really sure what had happened to get them to suddenly move.

Yoruichi helped by gripped tightly onto her arm, disregarding that it was supposed to be injured according to Unohana, and Natsu dragged over to her slowly. There was a short nod on her head and then it was cocked over towards the front of the room. Her eyes peered up and the Sou-taicho was gesturing over to the box that he was sat beside.

She tugged at the collar of her top again and then made slow steps up to the man and recalled his words. "Ain't tha'." She cleared out her throat a bit and looked directly at him. "I'll give ya tha evidence and ya gotta decide… Yer central 46 now, so anythin' ya say goes."

"Very well." The man nodded and then looked towards the box before gesturing at it again. "Seeing as how we have already heard Yoruichi's version of the events, let's focus on your proclamation about the current prisoner Ayake Ichiyuko and her connection to the crimes of that evening."

Natsu took a moment as she regarded the open eyes of the man, before she nodded lightly. She could barely make out the feeling of anything in the box, although she had been the one to pack it to her specifications. Her hand clenched up slightly and then she flexed it, hoping to rush out the pins and needles which were preventing her from feeling correctly.

As she snagged onto a few papers stored vertically in the box, she started explaining about what she knew about Ayake Ichiyuko's case. The woman had risen up the ranks of the thirteenth division, and the transferred over the second division where she swiftly took up the position of fukutaicho under Yoruichi. Years later she was promoted again to tenth division captain. Her file had been completely clean up until that time, until suddenly that night serious accusations had been flung at her.

She gestured over to a few files and summarized how Aizen had infiltrated the Central 46 and had subjected them to his shikai, which was complete hypnosis. None of the members had any idea and easy accepted the facts that he presented over under the guise of a very concerned and upset fifth division fukutaicho. Even though he came baring no previous accusations, and none had ever been registered about any of the accused, it only took his words.

There were slow cracks forming in that last part of the mirror, and she just kept chiseling away at it as she was debriefing them all. Natsu spent a lot of time unweaving his words and replacing them with her own as she brought out small pieces of evidence, mainly papers with his notes about his thoughts on the experimentation and the events. Then finally, she took out the small orb that had started her on her long two days in the creepy lab, and with it she brought out the sledgehammer to fully shatter the rest of the glass.

"Aizen tol' central 46 tha' Ayake was present tha' nigh' an' had come wit' Kisuke ta watch how tha events unfolded 'cause of 'er bein' a conspirator." She tossed the ball slightly and then held it up so the clock face was facing all the members. "This proves tha's not true."

"What is that?"

"It's Yuko's timer." Yoruichi smirked slightly and shook her head. "Yuko used to take long walks or would get dragged off by other captains so she got Kisuke to invent a clock that would only be triggered by her reiatsu."

"Righ'… Basically wha 'appens is tha' she would walk inta tha room and the clock would reset it'self ta tha righ' time an' tick normally like a regular clock." Natsu pointed to where the hands were stopped and the clear time code that was written across the orb. "If she left tha room the clock would stop, that way people lookin' fo' 'er could see how long she had been gone fo'."

"Why is this of relevance?"

Natsu turned to Soi-fon and then tossed the object over to the woman who deftly caught it. "I's stuck on May 4th, but tha time is wrong. I's at 2:10 in tha mornin', but the events accordin' ta Aizen's report had 'er at the scene of tha crime at jus' pas' midnight."

"But she was in her office working until I came and asked her for help." Yoruichi supplied out the end of that sentence with a sad shake of her head.

"Righ'... Tha item was actually listed missin' when 'er office was cleared out, but i's been wit' Aizen tha entire time since the clock wouldn't react ta 'is reiatsu in order ta fix it ta match tha reports."

"This is all the evidence you have?"

The old man's lieutenant took the words to clean up the evidence and shifted the box off to another side of the room. She watched all the proceedings with a clear eye as she scanned the care that he took with them, before looking at the old man who was waiting to see what she would have to say. Instead she simply shrugged and let her voice have a break from all the strenuous exercise she had been giving it.

"I see." The man tapped his cane slightly and the captain's all made a slow lingering walk back to their places. Natsu shifted slightly and then moved along when Yoruichi was make clear signs to sit back down. His words fell on her back and then on top of her head as she was moving about. "Firstly I will clear Kotomi Natsu of any of her crimes, for although her acts may have been treasonous it is clear that they were in attempts to help the Gotei 13, which in line with her duty as a Shinigami of Seireitei."

Natsu kept her head down as she found different things to fidget with. Her hand tugged at the sleeve by her wrist and grew sharper as the man was draining out the last of his sentence. Her eyes clenched shut and her hand found peace in her thigh where she started to bunch everything up.

Yet, the rest of her was in a complete blaze compared to her hand. Her head was screaming and she felt the small thrash of her lion as it started stampeding around. The sword was drawn out of her only to come straight back through her heart and her tongue became swollen in her mouth to drown out her own screams of how wrong he was.

"Secondly, due to the circumstances and what appears to be impending aggression from the true manipulators, I will ask for Urahara Kisuke's assistance as well as the assistance from both Shihoin Yoruichi and Tsukabishi Tessai."

Natsu opened her eyes at the sway of air and took in the end of Yoruichi's firm promise. There was a resolute gold ore in her eyes, and Natsu wondered how it was possible to overcome one hundred years of unjust exile and the empty words that had once befallen the justice system of the Gotei 13, only to pledge some sort of fealty to that system. She found herself grimacing at the notion and then wiped it clean before anyone could see it.

"Thirdly, due to the evidence presented I will temporarily revoke the status of exile on the three former captains previously mentioned." The old man's voice came out like a thrust of the spear right into the pig's belly. "I will also call for the immediate release of Ayake Ichiyuko from jail to which I will make the details known later on today."

Natsu shut her eyes again when her heart thrummed right again rib cage with one huge burst. She swallowed down and ducked to the ground in what looked like a bow to the man, though she didn't know her full reasoning for doing so. He called the end of the meeting over her head and she felt the vibrations of people walking along the floorboards. The echoes reverberating like a defibrillator against her body to send jolt after jolt of electricity through her.

She felt something like a zombie as she made out Yoruichi patting on her back and getting her up from the floor. Her limbs almost didn't feel like her own and it took her conscious thought to start getting them to start working, since she had only just gotten back to life. Her first steps were like trampling on the ground and her calves and feet tingled at the sensation of pressure, although the blood hadn't been cut off there for that long.

She was a child again walking over to the extended fingers right in front of her, and her heart gave a happy cry which went right through her mouth. The face that was there when she was picked up in her celebration was like her own and yet distant and foggy; with his gleaming teeth and the curl on his lips. A strong arm beneath her wasn't enough to stop her from colliding forward and snuggle up against the collar bone where his heart beat was strong beneath her entire body.

Her eyes flung back to the present and found herself staring up at the sun as she made it down to the courtyard of the first division. She breathed in deeply to her chest like it was the first time and she was about to burst out into louds wails, which warranted a slice of the gold eyes next to her. The question was just about to fall, when Natsu looked off to the side and slouched down back into her normal manner and just breathed.

"You did really well." Yoruichi implanted instead and crossed her arms as she gave a nod. "We app—"

"Don't care."

"Natsu-chan." A voice called out from just behind them.

The girl tossed her head slightly and took in the older male captains that were walking towards her not sure which one had called for her. Ukitake was wearing such a brilliant smile and it stemmed deep within his soul that she almost puked at the sight. Kyoraku was harder to describe but there was a relief in him that she had never seen.

"That was great work." Ukitake stated first and collected her into a slight hug before breaking them apart and holding her just by the shoulders. "To have done so much work in just two days and then to present it so clearly to the captains… It was really phenomenal."

"Sure."

Kyoraku swapped his head in with a small tilt and Ukitake pushed to the side with a grin as they formed a shoulder-to-shoulder wall in front of her. The brown haired man nodded for a moment as he looked at her and let it pour from him as he flowed out more than a few compliments at her behavior in the meeting.

"Who knew Natsu-chan had such a history." Kyoraku finished at his long tirade, and adopted back his more sleepy expression with something dreamy coming along. "You should be careful though… People might think you enjoy work with that demonstration, Natsu-chan."

Natsu smirked slightly and shrugged. "Ain't neva doin' tha' 'gain."

"Natsu," Ukitake first prompted so that she would turn back over to the mountain of sweetness that he was exuding, "Thank you."

"Don't care." The two captains blinked a few times and when about to argue Natsu waved it off. "I didn't go an' do it fo' ya… It was jus' tha truth. Any otha way an' I wouldn't of done it. Don't wan' no thanks fo' tha."


	14. Chapter 13

The interaction to get full access and control over Aizen's lab, which occurred two days later, went something like this. She asked for permission to get an audience with the Sou-taicho, and requested it. Kurotsuchi Mayuri, the sniffling voice that she always had hated, heard about it at once - most likely from his hidden cameras and secret spy network (which everyone knew about but never said anything for accepting an admittedly creepy habit of said captain) - and made himself appear during her audience with a clatter of the doors, a long stalk into the room, and his billowing cloak snapping.

She had already anticipated his arrival at the scene since anything scientific always fell into his hands; so Natsu was neither upset or off put when he interrupted. Nor was the sou-taicho surprised, although Natsu reckoned that very little disturbed him most days and he, probably, knew the captains best. The lab hadn't been taken from her jurisdiction in so many words at the beginning, and so she hadn't been forced to disclose the exact location of the lab to any of the captains. However it was presumed that it would happen at some point since as a twentieth seat she would have to step down from the realm of having control over the situation.

However, now that she had brought up control over the space with the Sou-taicho it caused more problems for Kurotsuchi to gets his hands on it. Now only the Sou-taicho could deem who was allowed into the space, particularly if there were too opposing sides who were not likely to work together that both wanted access. It wouldn't be impossible to track her covertly and find the lab, but if Kurotsuchi went behind her back and entered the lab without authorization there'd be worse punishments. Not that Natsu was against him being punished - since he was a creep - but it was such a hassle.

The cosmetically blue man, with his ever unappealing aesthetic, huffed up a fit whilst crossing the room and halted the small discussion that he hadn't heard before he could even stand over her with that ever towering ego of his. By the time he grounded himself, the captain was on his own tirade. He simultaneously demeaned her, made knocks at both her "lowly" position, and her aptitude for both science and strength as a Shinigami. The he praised himself as the best candidate for going through all of the processes that Aizen had taken.

Natsu had sat slouched at the side giving the man side glances every once in a while with her face in a mixture of a grimace and her usual blasé look. Her insides twisted and turned at the shrillness of his voice. Every now and again her finger would have to go up to pick at her ears to make sure that they could register something other than the high pitch. She'd look across the room sometimes and mutter under her breath, which was always miraculously heard and retaliated, and she'd shrug when he made rude comments about her behavior and expertise.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself child?"

Natsu blinked a few times before shrugging one last time with her palms face up to the ceiling. She rested like that for a moment before dropping them back into her lap. "Jus' tha' I wasn't listenin' much ta wha' he was sayin'… I don't plan on anyone else lookin' at tha lab otha than me an' anotha selected person."

"You insolent child." Mayuri flung his hand out at her face with that one large fingernail coming near her nose as she turned her head to watch another explosion simmering along his tone. "You don't understand anything of –"

"I know 'nough."

"How dar—"

Natsu smirked slightly as she matched eyes with the man. "I'mma surprised ya interested in somethin' tha' Kisuke's chewed up and spit out."

His mouth started twitching radically, and his each of his eyes started to roll around in different directions. Natsu made out the clench in the man's jaw and her eyes raised up slightly, which only made his head start to twitch slightly. The little demon flames in her stomach started to make a move and she found herself attempting to stifle the sudden burst of electric excitement that was moving about her. Her lips spread further along her face, the only thing preventing her from laughing at the captain's agitation and, ironically, the thing causing him to devolve more into his fit.

She shrugged again and tilted over towards the Sou-taicho who was watching everything calmly. "If tha cap 'ere wants ta play catch up wit' 'is predecessor than I guess I got no problems." Her gaze flickered over to the man who head was trembling as his off yellow teeth were grinding until she could make out the sound from where she sat. "But ya won't find anythin' Kisuke hasn't."

"I'm going to dissect you nice and slow so that you can feel the pa-"

"I'll han' ova tha remains ta ya, promise." Natsu turned fully back to the Sou-taicho who had remained immovable even at the threats the fellow captain was flinging. "I wanna look ova tha place firs' I don't care fo' tha hollowfication stuff."

The man opened one red eye that peered right at her and she internalized her squirm to a mere clench of her stomach. He gave a soft drop of his head, letting out a small hum, before bringing it back up and directly his gaze at the captain that was envisioning every possible way of dissecting and murdering her slowly. With a small and weighty grunt Kurotsuchi relapsed and turned over to the man like nothing had happened and he hadn't carelessly flung around someone life.

"How much time will you need for your search?" The old man asked.

Natsu shrugged again and twirled up her lips into a half smile. "Three - four days? Any evidence I take from tha' place remains wit' me an' if tha cap 'ere wants it than he gotta ask permission firs'."

"Does that appear reasonable to you Kurotsuchi-taicho?" The old man ducked his head just slightly as he was wording it out to the child to prevent the tantrum.

Natsu half wondered how the scientific creep was feeling under the pressure of those fire like eyes. She couldn't see any visual disturbance from the captain who was internalizing the words, except for the small narrow in his eyes as he roved through her ultimatum. It was either she got the days and the evidence, meanwhile disrupting his more full understanding of all the science, or the location would forever be in her hands and out of his control. His gritting teeth only made her smirk a bit more which she played off by picking her ear again.

"I'll just have to agree to those terms, I suppose. So long as none of the evidence taken from the place has to do with hollowfication."

Natsu hummed slowly and looked up at the ceiling. "I's jus' a bit o' 'istory I'mma lookin at."

"You listen here, you lowly chil-"

"I'd hate fo' ma cap ta get at cha." Natsu tilted her head a bit further back so that her fringe was cutting away from her eye and twisted a look at the still boiling scientist. "Afta all anythin' I take will also be under 'er protection an' knowledge."

"Since there's been an agreement I believe Kurotsuchi-taicho that you can dismiss yourself." Natsu snorted slightly at the old man's light tone that came out like spitting ash from a slowly rekindling fire. "I'd like to resume my meeting with Kotomi Natsu in private."

Kurotsuchi coughed a few times as he choked on his own words and there was a deep thrum that was visible as he retained himself. Natsu could make out the bulge in his neck veins and the tick that was pumping on his forehead. He thrust his face over towards her with his mouth closed so tightly from sucking away all his threats that his eyes bulged out slightly as he was glaring down at her. She only blinked up at him lazily before he was swiftly turning, with his haori billowing behind him again. There was the bang of the door behind him, while she was blinking up at open air that still held the residual reiatsu that he had been burning.

Natsu let out a sigh from the deep confines of her chest and dumped her head. Her fingers slowly twitched up and ran over her hair, before she settled it on the nape of her head and raked slightly against the skin and hair there. It twirled slightly and then flicked back down with a movement of her wrist, before she was moving back over to the old man who was emitting a small hum after putting down his cup of tea.

His red eyes came over to her and he gave a faint nod. "I'll grant you the four days, and you may only take in those who are apt at understanding the sensitivity of this information. I trust you understand that this is your only allowance on the issue... After that your immediate recall from the area and anything to do with the topic is mandatory."

"Course."

"I have also released Ayake Ichiyuko, who has taken up residence at the fourth division during her recuperation and will then be moved to the second division thereafter." Natsu blinked several times and just as she was about to open her mouth the man continued, "Were you not interested in what was to happen with her?"

"Not really."

The man hummed slightly and his eyes fell down to that closed position. It was much more comfortable when he did that. His eyes were like the flames of his zanpakuto, and they held a lot more pressure than was normally granted to a person. It was like being instantly engulfed into a ring of fire where the smoke slowly clogged up all other sensations, and could only thin out and bring focus onto one thing which was the two blazes just up front. It was only when the eyes were more closed that the smoke opened up air passages again and the air of a clear day could be smelt, other than that of burning skin and the ash of everything around.

"Kotomi Natsu…" Natsu jerked over to the man who was once again placing down his cup. "What is your interest in Aizen Sousuke's lab?"

"Nothin' much. Jus' wanna know wha' exactly is gonna 'appen next."

"I assumed that you are aware of the arrancar situation that most likely will develop." The man moved his hand along his beard and she stuttered out a small nod which he hummed to. She felt the press of his eyes along her face as he spoke next, "Then what is your interest in Aizen Sousuke's personal lab?"

Natsu's smirk fluttered up and down for a moment before finally cementing. She dragged out a sigh and shrugged once more. "I's fo' somethin' else."

"How curious…. If I were to interpret your response I would say you are already certain we will win the war." The man's eyes creaked just a touch and she found her head slowly dropping as she stared up at him through her lashes. "Or I would say that you're thinking foolish, childlike thoughts."

"I ain't knowin' anythin'… Jus' a precaution, 'cause if tha' cap ge's 'is hands on tha lab ain't gonna be nothin' left fo' wha' I'mma gonna wanna do."

"And what is that exactly?"

"Ain't nothin' bad."

The old man let out a small chuckle which had her blinking and her mouth falling slack. There was an instant sweat along her entire form, and her eyes flickered off to the side of the threat of his laugh. She fiddled slightly with the bottom lumps of her top and pressed down on the extra fabric that had pooled there.

"You haven't had your tea." His words brought her back over to him and his small point to the full cup. "Do you not like the flavor?"

"N- Nah i's fine. Jus'…"

Natsu looked down at the bronze liquid and gave a small peak at the man before taking a small sip to appease him. To her mild surprise it was still warm even though it had been sitting out for a bit of time now. As it traveled down her throat, it left behind a small but profuse coating, like honey did when it stuck to the top of the mouth, which took a moment to sink in. It pulsed before it settled down. When the liquid had dried up in her throat fire ants drifted all around her, though it wasn't nearly so terrible and painful, and more like small prickles that were opening up all the cavities and clearing out the toxins.

"I find it interesting that someone as young as yourself became involved with Urahara Kisuke and the exiled group." Her eyes traveled back from the tea, which she realized she had been staring in shock, back up to the man. "I have to ask what your interest in the release of Ayake Ichiyuko is."

"Nothin' 'cept tha' she was put there unda wrongful circumstances."

"I see." The man cleared out his throat slightly and she watched as he crept over to a mantel at the side of the room and then back to where they were sitting. "I had an interest in Ayake Ichiyuko before she made fukutaicho."

Natsu blinked several more times and then took the hesitantly offered papers. She glanced once to see that the old man was returning to pouring them both out more tea, and then took in the yellow color of the papers. The penmanship was near perfect with a slight trail between all the words and aggressive loops. Most impressively it had stayed so clear and legible even though the papers were yellowed and the corners of all of them were wilted and turned down in a small curve. It had been flipped through a number of times over the years since Natsu could see the impress where the old man's thumbs had pressed up against the crinkling and aged papers.

"That is the woman's first ever proposal of reformation to the training programs in the outer districts." Natsu continued to flip slightly over the words but then handed it back to him where he placed it off to the side with a delicacy normally reserved for cradling a child. She eyed the movement before looking back up to him where he looked nonplussed by everything. "Her growth was very interesting to watch… And I was greatly pleased to see her attention to learning from my two former students."

"Ain't sure why ya tellin' me this." It was a tentative call even with its rough wording to get him from his wandering but she cut off her next sentence when she felt his eyes on her again.

"She was an intuitive one… And sought to fix an area that I had been negligent to." The old man's eyes wandered over her frame before settling down a bit as he was diving into his own memories. "I was deeply hurt by the conspiracy one hundred years ago and I have not treated her well over the past century, I will admit to that."

Natsu cleared her throat as silently as possible and took another sip to soothe out the irritation that she was feeling. She shifted slightly and kept her eyes firmly over to the side, just over his knee. The black hakama took up the lower half of her vision while the rest was on the floorboards which had a perfect shine to them. She had heard once how devoted the entire division was to the man, and it was reflected in the smooth polish in those floorboards that she was staring at.

She shifted again and traveled over to the small tray that they were on before darting up to the man that was looking again at her. Her heart froze slightly because she had been trailing away from what he was saying and it looked as if he were expecting a response from her. Her mouth opened slightly but the man only shook his head with a small chuckle. She moved along to the other side and let out a slow breathe from the corner of her mouth to get rid of the sudden anxiety.

"I suppose this would bore you." Yamamoto stated, and patted softly down on the papers. "An old man's rambles about someone you barely know."

Natsu clicked her tongue slightly, and then gave a slow nod which developed into two quick thrusts of her head up and down. "Jus' not sure wha' i's gotta do wit' me bein' 'ere."

"Nothing really… Only to tell you that you have relieved one burden from an old man and put another in its stead."

"Wha?"

His slowly opened up his eyes and she blocked her voice again with a sudden jerk of her face as stared cautiously at him. His voice rung down along her ears as he spoke out in a gravelly voice that had one foot in deepest parts of the water. "All actions have consequences… Even the ones that are meant to help."

"S—Sir?"

"You should take more responsibilities for your actions Kotomi Natsu." His eyes never strayed from hers as he kept that dark tone along his words. "You're now one of the only Shinigami that has as much information as a captain and as such people will need to rely on you in the future. That is not something you can toss aside."

"I—"

"I reviewed your updated files again as well as spoken with Retsu-san and I will not allow you to slide by with your behavior any longer. I have ordered for you to start up training immediately."

If a beast could have ripped through her chest to tear into the man and consume him for all it was worth than it would have in only a blink of her eye. The blink, however, never fell and she was staring at him with wide eyes that pulled up so harshly she felt the air from the flap. Both heat and moistness hit her eyes at the same time and she wasn't sure which one was more powerful. She just knew that her eyeballs were hurting with the strain of holding themselves together as the two contrasting materials splinted into her and tried to gauge her eyes of all sight.

Her mouth dried out with it remaining open so that people could stare down into her stomach where there was sloshing acid that wanted to burn everything alive. When the acid couldn't make it all the way up her throat, it came back down with a splutter and tore through the stomach lining and infused with her entire body. Blood and water for acid, as her fingers clenched up and dug into the fabrics over her throbbing thighs which were stopping her from moving with them being glued to her calves.

"I'mma healer not—"

There was a blast of his reiatsu and she hunched down with a quick grab for some air. The feeling settled around her body like a brick wall against her back and she forced everything in her body to collapse underneath it. It was only when all the tension left her body that the pressure left her just as suddenly as she realized how slickened with sweat she had become with her own fingers sliding through her clothing as she gripped back onto them.

"I have already said that you have to take responsibility for your actions." His voice was like a faraway drum that was slowly marching closer to her ears. "You're healing abilities are more than exceptional according to Retsu… And you're time in the kido corps has proven that you already have combat experience."

"But—"

"You will not be transferred to a different squad. You are still useful under Retsu-san's care and tutelage, particularly with the technique that we were all witness to at Sokyoku Hill." Now that his voice was stable she could push up against her thighs just in the slightest bit to look at the immovable man. "Your training will pertain to enhancing your kido performance as well as making you more than proficient at the other half of your shikai."

"I ain't got no interest in tha'." Natsu garbled out as her head felt heavy from the switches in the pressures around the room.

"I'm also placing you in Hitsugaya's Advanced Force to Karakura Town when the arrancars make their appearance." Natsu breathed out at the man's steadiness to persist even though she was clearly rejecting everything he was saying. "You're under orders now Kotomi Natsu to prepare yourself for this upcoming war as well as assist all the other forces at work."

* * *

The ryoka group watched the woman they had come to know as she flung out curses and spat flames over at Yoruichi, who was watching with an actual serious look on her face. As they had come to know Natsu, they had only ever seen her relaxed, childishly sly, and at the same time suspiciously open. She wasn't necessarily a warm person, but she fell somewhere in the range of tepid depending on how she wanted to treat people.

There was a deep anger in her that had them taking a back seat in the whole scene. It was the strong pierce in her eyes and the undeniable intensity of them as they could fling a fifty pound javelin into a target fifty kilometers away. Her reiatsu was well hidden still, although it would pop and fizzle at sudden moments like a pot of boiling water that was still on a stove top that was burning too high. It was also the tension in her body as she overtook the more petite woman and caved over her in the torrents of her words.

Then the whole existence of anger seemed to swell up and start to swirl, before it went down the drain with a slow gurgle as it tried to come back up but ultimately was nothing against gravity. Natsu stomped her leg once and that popped the last pocket of air before all of it washed away from the area. It left her panting slightly and with a more bloodied throat than she had ever had.

While she rubbed at the spot she took in Yoruichi's pert eyebrows and the shimmering eyes that were glancing at all of her. The cat slowly put out, "you done?"

"Yeah." Natsu shrugged then and fixed up her hair before wiping away and a small droplet of sweat that had come along her forehead. She flicked it off her hand with an exaggerated swipe and twist of her wrist. "Tha was tense, no?"

Yoruichi puffed out a small laugh and uncrossed her arms with a shake of her head. "And that was just awkward."

"I couldn't help it…. It was perfectly set up."

"Of course it was." Yoruichi mimicked out as she swerved her hand in a loose wave as she walked back over to the group of worried teens. "Might want to apologize to your friends though."

"Oh." Natsu turned over to them slightly and gave them a grin. "Sorry 'bout tha'… Ol' men an' stuffy air gives me a rash, ya know?"

The group slowly dispersed from their tight cluster and she watched as one by one they moved back over to whatever they had been doing beforehand. It was completely silent as they moved, and they gave her a few glances but they fell back into their rhythm soon after Ichigo made some comment about Uryu. Immediately the quincy retaliated against the orange head, and their bickering made the words from Natsu's rant slowly diminish.

She scratched at the back of her head as Orihime came up to her to make sure she was alright with a few tentative steps. "I's 'kay. Ya too cute ta hurt 'Hime."

"You shouldn't just give people nicknames." Ichigo cried out from his side of the room as he honed in on the two girls with a strict finger.

Natsu blinked a few times and then gathered the girl around the shoulders to drag near her body. Once holding the girl tight, Natsu let slip a smirk. "Hime likes it, righ'? She didn't she'd say so."

"Then why do you still call me by my nickname?" Ichigo growled back not moments later.

"Jus' 'cause." Then she promptly stuck her tongue out at him and brought Orihime just that much closer until she nuzzled down onto her head. "Don't get sacred 'Hime… I'll keep ya 'way from Ichi an' 'is meanie self."

Ichigo let out an aggravated sigh and then proceeded to flop over onto his back. The rest of the group let out either a huff or a snicker, that one being from Yoruichi, before they turned away as if the interaction had never happened in the first place. Orihime was the only one that was watching the situation nervously, with her hand shakily pressed up against Natsu's back in a somewhat return of the weird hug.

"Are you sure you're okay Natsu-chan?" She asked as the older woman was sliding away from her.

Natsu dropped her head back with a small sigh, and then turned back over to the girl with a small pout. "Why ya gotta be so cute Hime? - Tell ya wha' show me tha' ability of yers an' we'll trade secrets. It'll be like one those girly sleepovers."


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: So we're heading into the war prep arch in this story, which, of course, takes up a good majority of the story line. In terms of time length, the way Bleach is plotted, in both manga and anime, gives the sense that its kind of a short period of time; making it hard to make sure events align themselves well. If anyone has read _Building a Home_ , I think this was something I struggled with.**

 **As many of you probably know, it's give or take, four months before the war actually happens. Going forward, I want to make it seem as if the time being spent is preparation towards the war, but I, as a reader, know that can make for a dry read; particularly when not well versed with everything that goes on in war prep. I also want to make sure things align properly, with my previous story and with the manga, itself. I hope, with writing a second story, I've gotten a bit better at signaling time jumps (as there will be some leaps to keep the story progressing relatively swiftly) but I hope to give enough allowance to try and plot out some weakened areas from my other story and to fill in (make up) parts from the manga timeline.**

 **Please don't hate on the long message. I just wanted to clarify.**

 **Please review, comment, question, etc! Love to hear from you all.**

* * *

"Again."

Natsu grumbled slightly as she took up the first stance with her stance. As she shifted her feet to the right, her arms coming up by the left side of her face. Her sword was held close to her ear with the blade facing the sky, and then as she followed through with another step, she brought it out to her right side. As the sword rotated so that it was a horizontal bar in the air, blade still facing the sky, she moved it so that it would go up over her head and took that same step backwards. Then she maneuvered around her right foot and, bringing her left foot in front, did a swipe up.

"You're form is very good, Natsu-san." Natsu peered slightly up at her captain as she came back to the front again. "Why have you always rejected using your zanpakuto?"

"Yumi once called me a precision fighter." Natsu held up the sword in her hand and looked down at the glimmer that it sent off. "I ain't strong an' got almost no endurance fo' fightin', so I try ta make tha attacks quick and clean."

"But you have also rejected using your zanpakuto's offensive techniques, instead relying on kido." Unohana spoke softly as she came up just a bit closer in the small field, her hands pleasantly crossed in front of her womb.

Natsu wandered away from the image of the woman and her calmness and back to the blade that she had pointing down at the grass. The designs on the hilt were clear to her, particularly under the sun, which helped to get rid of all the shadows that could erase out the images. She gave a little shrug to the question and then watched as the sword slowly seeped back into her seal. She then undid the lacing on her sleeves and let the fabric flop down around her arms. They were only a momentary weight along her forearms, before she stuck her hands into the gaps, unseen fists tightly curled, and moved back over to the woman.

Unohana blinked slowly and then let go of a small smile on her face. "I see we're done for the day then… I was hoping to at least see you moving with a shunpo but this will have to do."

"I'mma tired cap."

"Have you fixed your seals?"

Natsu gave the woman a small look and then shook her head. "Only one is on, righ' now…I ain't doing all them if I'm headin' down ta tha real world."

"And your progress on your kido based techinques?" Unohana beckoned slowly and Natsu walked up until she was in arms distance of the woman. Her captain busied her hands with helping to right out the shihakusho top as she continued speaking. "The ones you used on Sokyoku Hill are very incomplete. Have you made progress with it?"

"Tha' takes time ta do. I'll get ta em."

Unohana frowned slightly but nonetheless dropped the topic as they both made a slow walk into the fourth division. Now that most people had been dispersed from the area, no longer in critical conditions, the division had quieted. Even the eleventh division hadn't made too much of a mess among themselves with their continuous training. It became particularly quiet when the ryoka left two days ago, and the normal havoc that followed after them and the questions they had to answer died away. Full attention was turned over to the war effort and preparing all resources that will be used up.

For her part Natsu had finished up in the lab and collected the last bits of data. She handed over the location to both the thirteenth and the twelfth divisions. The former wanted to do a small sweep if they could find out Aizen's true objective since it appeared that Karakura Town was the target of an increase in hollow activity and most likely arrancar activity sometime in the future. The latter division was, of course, interested in what they could get on the hollowfication process and to see if they could try and understand the power that Seireitei were up against.

Other than her whining, Natsu was on a schedule of training with Unohana when the captain could manage it, which was more often than Natsu had thought. It turned out the captain also knew of her trick of hiding in plain sight, and found her with little strife. She'd appear a few steps away and she give that smile that reeked with her power, and Natsu would feel a cold sweat drape over her instantly until she was jumping from her perch and joining the captain in kendo forms and other sword fighting techniques.

While it made Sekhmet very happy to finally be used, Natsu was growing increasingly annoyed by it. The lion was constantly on the prowl and the sands of her inner world were large dunes that the lion kept knocking over in its play. The sounds were constantly going and Natsu could barely get a good night's rest or any sleep during her nap time, at the yowls and growls from her lion. They grew worse whenever the sword was in her hand and the tanto was at her back until it came to the point that Natsu felt her heart freezing over and she had to dematerialize the zanpakuto to a sealed state in her wrist.

"Will postponing your training on your kido combination be a good idea?" Unohana sounded and cleared out the rest of the thoughts swirling around her mind.

Natsu shrugged and slouched just a bit more as she walked along. "I's worked fine… I overtaxed maself 'fore. I can do tha' technique fine wit' max two people, an' I 'ad max five on tha hill."

Unohana stopped up short and Natsu paused in her step as the woman was opening up a small room door. Her brows automatically furrowed and then just over the captain's head, she spied the body sitting up on the mattress. She felt the muscles loosened in her face and the hard look she had probably worn throughout the training, drained away.

Ayake Ichiyuko slowly turned her head over from facing the window and looked at them from her space. The lighting gave her a weird ethereal glow like Natsu was looking at the face of a real death god that had come down to this world to suck on the masses. The woman's face was all bones and saggy skin, and there were dark bags underneath her two eyes which made the deep obsidian stand out that much more by looking enlarged. Her lips were partly open, to help her breathing adjust back to the reishi that was around her. She had all sorts of instruments stuck to her that connected up to machines that were beeping away to keep her reiryoku stabilized as she adjusted. The worst was the monster of her long hair that had yet to be cut and was long, crusty, and frayed tresses coming down from her head.

The rest of her was equally deteriorated and lackluster. Her body was hunkered down in weight, and there were thick braces over her legs to help straighten them, but it only showed off the long sticks that were her limbs. Her arms were nothing but bones and her fingers nearly clanked as they waved slightly on her lap. Her collar bone was completely protruded, and the ribs that made up the top of chest were visible from the small crack in her shitagi.

"Yuko-san, this is Kotomi Natsu." Natsu thrust her head at the captain that had entered the room and was holding a hand out for her to join them in the confines of the small space. "She's been one of my students for forty years now."

Natsu felt her fingers connecting with the seams of pockets quickly and she sagged down a bit more in her position. Her eyes roved over the woman a bit more who was watching like her eyes were the sharpened point of a sword. Natsu sunk her head a bit lower towards her chest, and then drifted down to her own foot that was pulsing with indecision. She narrowed her own eyes down at it for a moment before picking herself up just a touch and entering the room which hit her with an immediate smog and a putrid smell.

"Natsu-san," Unohana called slightly as she made her way over to the bed, "I was hoping you could use your healing technique on our patient."

Natsu stepped up slowly to the animal that was sitting on the bed with its haunches pulled up tight and ready to bite at any single moment. She trailed her eyes over the beaten body and then over to the obsidian eyes that were traveling all over her face. The woman's mouth opened slightly and she let out a hacking cough as there was a sharp breath between them.

There was a weird choked sensation - a tightening she wasn't prepared for - in her own throat, and she looked away out to the window. It had the perfect image of Sokyoku Hill in it and the great broken beams that had been forcibly created a little over a week and a half ago. She found the irony in having the woman look out to what was once the ultimate symbol of justice. Yet, there it stood broken demonstrating how much the place had changed with the rules having gone out the window. With the truth now revealed to everyone, Seireitei was forced to stare at how broken everything was and to rebuild something from its fallen foundations.

Unohana placed a small hand on her back and Natsu looked over at the woman who was giving her a deft nod. "I'll leave her in your care. Please try to maintain a professional bedside manner this time, Natsu-san."

Natsu continued to look over her shoulder as she watched the captain disappear from the room. It was only when the door closed with a small "shlunk" of the latch hitting into the hole to keep the wood closed, that she drifted her eyes back over to the woman who was watching her. Black met the freckled brown-red and light syrupy gold and there was nothing but the sound of the woman's noisy breathing and the faint pump of her blood in her own ears.

A smirk came along her face and the woman's eyes flickered at it for a moment before coming back up to her eyes. She brought up a slim finger and then slowly waggled it with a condescending shake of her head. "All skin an' bones ain't ya? Not been takin' care of yaself like ya should of."

"You-"

The former prisoner's throat broke down again and she let out another hack of coughs. Natsu reached for the woman instantly and pulled her up off the bed until her head was tilting over her lap and the coughs were going down to the bed instead of back into her. Then Natsu placed her hand up along the woman's back, where she made out the ridges of every bone and the vertebrae in her back, and pressed in some kaido until the coughs soothed out again.

"I'mma gonna take out ma zanpakuto," Natsu spoke out slowly as she watched the small tension leave the woman.

The woman jerked slightly beneath her grip and Natsu had her back up against the pillows instantly. Ayake's eyes were on her, and Natsu held her two hands up so that the woman could have a clear vision of them. Then with a specific press of her reiatsu, her sealed sword started to form out of the seal until the hilt was pressed into the palm of her hand and she could wrap her fingers around the weapon.

Natsu smirked at the slightly widened eyes before she cocked her head with her eyebrows furrowing as she held up the sword for them both to see. "I wonda sometimes 'ow tha' always seems ta happen… Ya know it jus' mysteriously 'pears when I need it."

"You're jokes…. Horrible." Ayake rasped out with a hand slowly pressing down on her collarbone to make sure that it didn't rattle too much.

Natsu grinned in response and then flung the sword away from them as she leaned up against the bed. The sword glinted off a bit of light as it angled down to the floor, until she shifted it slightly when she got it in both hands. Then as she slowly started to drag apart her two hands she whispered, "Heat of the mid-summer sun, boiling lifeblood and vapor of disease. Sekhmet."

The woman hummed slightly as Natsu held the two instruments up in her face. She maneuvered through them both quickly and then looked back at Natsu after only a moment. Her eyes squinted down and there was a thin press in her lips and when they opened again there was a dust that came out as she let go of a breath.

In response, Natsu stuck out her tongue at the lack of reaction before sliding the katana into the sheath at her back and flipping the tanto around in one hand. She pushed from the bed and then held the tanto up within range of the woman's eyes. "I use this fo' healin', so don't get scared."

Nastu pursed her lips at the turn in the woman's head and shrugged slightly as she sighed out silently. The woman had just come from jail so she shouldn't expect too much, particularly because there was still so many other forces that probably were making her feel imprisoned. Natsu frowned slightly and took up the woman's hand slowly, which was limp within her own and then held the tanto over the skin. It took a moment but then she felt the heat hitting down on her own hand, and the woman's hand slowly flexed out until the fingers were short spines coming from the palm of her hand.

"What is that?"

Natsu peered up at the woman and then back at the hand. "Ma zanpakuto controls somethin' like heat. Tanto is fo' healin' and tha katana is fo' combat."

"I thought," the voice gurgled slightly and Natsu made out the harsh swallow before the speech continued, "well… No. I suppose it makes sense."

"Oh?"

"Natsu means summer."

"Wow." Natsu put out blandly as closed her fingers around the thin hand a bit before flipping it over to see the blue veins that were protruding up against the light coating of skin. "How inspired… tha' took ya all o' three seconds ta figure out."

Words hit up against the locked doors with a resounding thud as they were wiped away from mouths, or they fell down from the air until they were bouncing lifeless against the floor. They had lost their ability to move between the two women's impenetrable silence and flopped around like fish out in air. Silence came to wrap up the letters and sentences into a deep hug and the hold them until it could help carry them back out through the air. It too had been sliced aside as the void grew larger and larger between the two women.

 _How pleasant of you, Natsu._

 _Whatta ya want?_

 _Could you not have made her re-familiarization easier on her?_

 _… Shudup_

 _She's also coming from a hard place._

Natsu shuffled off the voice of her zanpakuto's voice in her head as she casted a booming song through her head. The tanto in her hand shook slightly and then rattled in protest and Natsu narrowed her eyes down at the thing. She let out a sigh and then shoved it into the mattress, splitting through the fabrics and the creating a small slit in them as the tanto was sticking from the place.

Her eyes, in their normal half-lids, eased over to the woman who was watching and then shrugged. "Ma zanpakuto ge's a bit opinionated."

"Yes." There was a small nod and then the woman was tapping on the space of her heart. "Mine did to."

Natsu narrowed her eyes slightly and took in the tiny scars that were peaking from the shifted fabric. There was a small breath that caught in her throat and she stared at the marks. It was a Tessai signature with the smallest puckering just where the line started, and if she looked at it deep enough there would be a small bit of kanji written around the edges.

She slide her eyes up to the woman who was watching her with those stone eyes. Her breath came out slowly as they watched one another and the lion in her let out a roar to try and dominate situation. Natsu crushed it down immediately and slowly put her hands up, until she could point with one of them at the mark. Ayake immediately sought to cover it up and clenched at the fabric as she dragged the material back over her skin.

Natsu shook her head and moved back so she was making that innocent gesture again. "I can get it fo' ya."

"Get wh—"

"Ya zanpakuto." Ayake's sword eyes were just that the small pinprick of her jugular and Natsu swatted at the angry blaze that the woman was trying to create. "Calm down… I ain't tellin' no one. I's jus' an offer."

Ayake spoke the slowly and sternly like she was looking down at an enemy. "How did you know that?"

"Cause I got ma own seal, 'cept i's ma own an' not done by Tessai."

A few machines clattered and the two women were moving in opposite directions. Ayake was trying to leap forward, and Natsu had slid over to save the machines from crashing. She let out a strong shush and the ex-prisoner settled down just slightly, heaving from the quick, aggravating movements, as they heard a scuttle outside the door. After a time with the two women staring at one another, they both came to realization that it was no more than someone walking along the hallway, yet they continued to stare for moments longer; Natsu's keen eyes picking out how Ayake was still moving towards the tanto stuck in the bed. They both breathed, consensus made silently, and they made harsh movements as they were returning to their positions.

"Che… Ya suck ya know." Natsu moved to help Ayake pin in the needles again and the woman was watching from her now prone state as she continued to breath heavily. "Ya wanna die don't do it on ma bed, got it."

Natsu pressed a small oxygen cup down on the woman's lips before she could start talking. The patient's breathing had gotten too erratic. Given that it was very abrupt movements it wasn't too strange, but four days out of the cell and her capacity to inhale reishi should have been much stronger than this. Natsu could only narrow her eyes as she watched the frail woman settle back onto the bed; clear, sharpened eyes locking onto her every motion. There was a small stiffening, as Natsu began to lean just over the bed, and her hand reaching towards the fabric. She kept her eyes directly on Ayake as she shifted the shitagi over to the side. When it was clear of the fabric, Natsu raised an eyebrow, a silent demand to the sick woman, and without too much extra thought she moved her eyes down to the seal. It was nothing than a small incision 'X' on her, but it had those few kanji that Tessai always had, and there was more puckering towards the center where the two lines intersected.

A cold grip came upon her wrist and Natsu tossed her eyes up at Ayake who was peering down at her as best she could. Her lips slowly moved and then with a furrow of her brow, Natsu's wrist was lifted up and the woman let out a small bark, "don't touch that."

"Boke." The women's eyes suddenly enlarged. Natsu raised an eyebrow, at the thoughts percolating in the older woman's eyes, before letting a smirk form along her face; much to the marvel and brightening thought of the ex-prisoner. "I use ta be part o' kido corps, an' I was in tha' sealin' division. Now ya know who I am, so shudup."

"But your reia—"

"Tha's anotha story."

The extraction would probably make the woman pass out, but her rate of recovery would increase. All the reiatsu from the kaido procession for restoration was currently being siphoned into the zanpakuto because that's where zanpakuto's got their powers from in the first place. However it was now preventing the woman's own recovery. With its extraction then the reiatsu restoration would go much more swiftly since it would go directly into her own body like it should have been doing from the start.

Natsu pressed slightly down on the symbol and roved over it. "How'd ma cap miss this?"

"I've always made sure to keep it covered."

"Che." Natsu shot her a small look and then down at the symbol again. "Tha's not… She's pro'bly jus' bein' nice an' not sayin' anythin'… Ya want it out o' not?"

"Go for it."

Natsu blinked a few times at the sudden trust but there was a certain kind of peace in the woman suddenly. As she helped move the Ayake woman, the entire body was mutable and giving towards her like a handover of the soul. Her own heart felt a tiny press of small hands against it and they help to drum out a small beat to keep her moving. She dragged in a small breath when the intimacy could stop and she could move away from the nostalgic barricade along her thoughts.

"Firs' I'mma gonna get ya healin' a bit, an' whilst ya in ma chamber I'll get ya zanpakuto out."

There was only a small nod before Natsu was slowly pressing out the short cut incantation to her kido manipulation. When she had figured out some of her zanpakuto's abilities she had fiddled around until she manipulated them to use with a type of kido. The technique that she had used on Sokyoku Hill was the taxation of a few of the different methods that she had just started to develop.

The one that focused on healing specifically was a barricade of reiatsu infused with her own blood to capture patients into either a slim coating or a larger rectangle depending on the gravity of the injuries. Once a person was inside the barrier than it was impossible for them to break out of it, though easy for someone or something to break through it since it was designed just to hold someone. Heat would then seep through and Sekhmet's natural ability would fill up the box and heal up the injuries.

The reason for the seals on the five of the people during the "Ryoka Invasion" – Yoruichi, Ichigo, Renji, Rukia, and Kuchiki – was because she could only get up to two people without them and had needed the seals and the incantations to maximize the power.

The second incantation and release had been to the offensive aspect of her powers, but she had gotten nowhere near close to figuring out how to use it correctly. In truth, she had been spending much longer trying to perfect the healing technique and increase the amount of people that she could heal at one time, instead of focusing on how to kill others. The problem were the limitations of her own reiryoku and the specificity of how Sekhmet healed someone, which if working on too many people wouldn't be able to heal properly.

When the red film was over the woman's body, Natsu drummed her fingers along until she saw the small heat start to rise over the top and obscure the definition of the image below. Then she slowly reached her hand down and drew the shitagi further away from the seal, until she could press her entire palm over it. Ayake's eyes immediately fell shut.

"Dual crosses. Switchblades in anger clashing." Natsu brought her other hand up parallel to her lips, and then dropped everything but her fore and middle fingers. "Tessai's trace and blossoming flowers. Unraveled words and undone stiching. Not beholden of the hand's key but parallel. Reveal to me."

Natsu pressed down just a bit more and scrunched up as she focused on getting the piece out in tact. It was so close to the heart that she had to dual focus on the rest of the incantation and her kaido. She felt the sweat already pooling over, with a few drops slipping like a fingernail across her skin, and her hand wavered as she was whispering out the last of the words. She yanked back out as soon as the sword was just at the tips of her fingers and stumbled away from the woman that was jerking back into a calm state.

Holding the new sword to her chest, Natsu pulled in a few gasps of air. Ayake was still and a panic rushed Natsu before she saw the smallest twitch on the women's hand. Ayake's body hung like a puppet without its puppeteer but her chest was moving in a quick pattern of breaths and her eyes were fluttering beneath their lids. With that, Natsu pushed air through her nose and closed her eyes, shifting the sword in her hand until it was up by her own beating heart. The weight of it was a cold enough press that she had outdone Tessai and Ayake had still lived.

She made a few steps back to the table and let out a heavy sigh. She lay the zanpakuto just by the woman's side, and waited over her. Her heart was pounding furiously and radiated a beat through her entire body.

 _Ain't doin' tha' 'gain._

 _It was very well done though, Natsu._

 _… Shuddup._

 _And the healing process is still being maintained. You continue to impress me._

 _Tsk. Ya supposed ta be me, ain't cha? Ya should know wha' I'mma capable of._

 _I thought you would say I suck._

 _Ya do._

 _You continue to surprise me._

Natsu looked down at the small groan from the woman and gave her a small victory symbol. "I'mma jus' tha' good."

"Thank you." Ayake whispered out slowly and a small droplet rushed from her eye as her fingers gently wrapped around the sword by her side. "Thank you."

"Che… It was jus' ta see how good I am." Her words went unheard as the woman fell back into a sleep, with the sword clutched into her palms and her fingers wrapped tightly around the covered blade like how spider's threads captures and binds its victims.


	16. Chapter 15

Natsu slowly ducked from the room, leaving the unconscious but steadily breathing Ayake, and settled the door back down slowly. She rested up against it not soon after and teetered a bit onto her left leg and hung for a minute. She dragged in as much breath as quickly as possible, until the shallow airs were a bit too much for the swirls of her head. She closed her eyes and fell into the pool of darkness where all she could make out was the way she breathed and the rise and fall of her chest.

She felt a slow hand drag up along her back and then a tiny rake along her head. The hand then pet down softly, then raked, and it went in that pattern. There was a soft whisper by her ear and then a hush. She squirmed about a lot, and she let out a few whines. The skin wasn't warm enough but it was too warm at the same time, and it cooled under all the sweat that she was letting drop there. The hand and the whispers continued on in that pattern, with a slow jostling coming along. She whined out again and her eyes fluttered to a close as she gurgled.

Her fist flying up against the wall had her eyes opening up again. She stared at the white knuckles and then over to the wall which had released a thud from the sharp contact. Part of her skin was ringing and she took her hand away to look at the red mark that was leaving the tiniest swelling along the side of her hand. She flexed it a few times and then pushed from the door to continue down the hall to her room.

She swiped at all the beads of sweat that were coming down her cheeks again. It was the other problem with using her zanpakuto. The longer it was used and the more reiatsu that was omitted out the hotter her own body would burn as the heat effected her. The amount of times that she had suffered from heat stroke during both battles and healing procedures were numerous, and at one point at the full extension of the powers she had landed herself in the fourth division with a severe case of dehydration along with reiatsu depletion.

She let out a sigh and then paused her step as she made out another figure heading towards her from the opposite side of the hall. His pale blonde head was sunk slightly and there was an odd hunch in his shoulders as he trailed his body before his feet. His feet were light and it only added to the impression that he was trying to calculate how to get each foot to move in front of the other.

"Yo 'Zuru."

His eyes darted up to her and then back down to the ground, where he shifted his left arm around around his stomach and grappled to his right arm just by his elbow. He dropped his head then and she eyed him as he didn't rise back up to face her at the full height.

"Wha' was tha'?"

"I -" He broke his mumble as he came back up to look at her before his blue eyes drifted over to the side. "I would like to speak with you senpai."

She let out a huff and made a few steps until she was by his side. She then prompty turned around so they were facing the same direction and slumped down onto his shoulders. He stumbled slightly under the weight and she made out his head moving from her periphery as she was looking straight ahead. "Carry me."

"Eh?"

"Don't 'eh' me." She huffed out and then slumped down onto him more as his two hands went out to catch her. "I'mma tired an' ya 'ere so carry me."

"I- Okay."

Natsu paused at the sudden submission where he normally would have argued a bit more. She roved again over the dark, sunken eyes and the dimmed light in the blues that she had known. He swiftly moved away from her gaze but there was a harsh pucker in his lips as he tugged them down. There was also a dent in his forehead from all the worrying he had been doing over the past few days, with his skin just that much paler from being indoors. Not doubt it didn't help that the third division was being watched by the first division, and being under that heavy weight of the Sou-taicho, who knew of the strong captain-lieutenant relationship - was not allowing him a peaceful rest.

She pulled away with a tiny smack to the back of his head, which echoed with a pop, and then proceeded to move away from him. There was a tiny rush of his footsteps but he caught up with her easily and then they were walking down the hall. They collided by the arms at a corner, with them going opposite directions again, but she gave him a small jab and they were heading back outside. Once they got far enough away from the building and crunching around in the taller parts of the grass, she flomped down onto the ground, with a backwards arch. Immediately a storm of scratches littered her skin, particularly against her cheek.

Instead she rose again and maintained a slouched position, as she leaned onto her hands this time. She patted deftly by her side and spoke up to him, "Wha's up?"

The wind drifted up between them for just a moment and then Izuru was crossing over the bridge the invisible air had made. He slowly hunched down onto his calves, and crawled on his hands and knees until he was over by her side. He twisted around and sat down on his bottom, and wiped off his hands as he was crossing his legs to sit up more properly than her. Then he fell forward so that he was resting against his knees, and his forearms were resting out so that he could glide his hands through the blades of grass around them.

"Senpai." She tossed her eyes over to his lips as they suddenly called to her and then up to his adamant eyes to look at the ground below. "I've already spoken with Rangiku-san and Shuuhei-san."

"Though' so."

"I couldn't bring myself to look at you."

Natsu shrugged slightly although he couldn't see it, and moved over to look at the sky which had the sun glinting down at them from a lower slant. "I know."

He pulled at one strand of grass and it came up with a small snap. He twirled it slightly between his fingers and then flung it into the air. The one singular blade twirled a million times and rocked slightly as it came down and then lost itself in the masses of millions of green blades. She may have lost sight of it, but Izuru hadn't and he slowly pat down on the area where it was until all the blades were flat. When he lifted up his hand, the blades came back up like a spring although they were slightly bent still from the weight even though it had been released.

"Can ya stand ta look at me now?" She asked suddenly and his head picked slightly but only to look at the sky. "Or do ya hate me?"

"Hate would be the wrong word… I'm conflicted."

Natsu nodded until it was rocking her whole body. The bright blue was morphing and smoothing out into some a bit darker. It wasn't as if she expected to be redeemed or to be forgiven by anyone. Ayako had been a welcome surprise in the whole mix, but the woman was much older than any of the others and had not grown up with the philosophies of those three exiled captains to woo her. Receiving the same dreary acceptance from the others, particularly Izuru and Rangiku, was not in her plans and she had all but tossed it out the window as soon as she had actually gotten to know them.

She wouldn't ever call them her closest friends. Natsu wasn't even sure if she knew what a friend was. She had some in the kido corps, and Ikkaku and Yumichika from the academy days. In her last three years in the kido corps she could easily say that she had already been swayed and tempted to go and discover what Kisuke had told her about. It frayed a few of the connections as she spent more time pondering and more time trying to get into record files and do other unsanctioned searches.

When she joined the Gotei 13 Rangiku was a welcome distraction, and Izuru was thrust to her accidentally. She knew immediately as she was connecting with them that they'd never understand what she would eventually do. Perhaps, she would never be fully forgiven for the deeds of tearing away their precious person. She did it anyway.

"Ya remember 'Zuru when ya came ta the fourth division afta the fifth?"

"Yes." Her eyes teetered over to him at the hint of amusement to see a tiny smile along his lips. "I thought you were a horrible officer."

"Jeez… Thanks."

Izuru titled his head slightly and his eyes narrowed in contemplation whilst he pointed a finger over at her. "It was deserved. Did you even own a mirror at the time?"

"'ow dare ya." Natsu spat at and swatted at the finger and then chuckled at his indignantly proud expression. It was one of his older ones when he used to be more confident in his abilities than his wooful, dreary spool he breathed out now. "I jus' had ma own style."

"Style? You gave yourself that ridiculous undercut, and always had your hair up to show it off."

"Ya don't get ta say anythin' 'Men's Association' memba."

"Tha- That's completely different." Izuru waved his hands frantically and then swatted at her claim by dropping his hands. "I only do that for meetings. I don't go around proudly showing it off."

"Mine was artistic 'xpression. I deserve ta be proud o' tha'."

He let out a loud 'pft' from his lips and then turned to hide his giggles and snorts. He did it horrendously as they came forth through his hand and the shaking of his shoulders. Natsu stared at the jostling back before smirking and petering her head back up to the sky. A new tirade of colors had come clashing through and it was a grand mix of everything that the sky was feeling as the sun was falling back to sleep for the evening.

"Jus' keep laughin'… One day I'll get back at ya, ya puppy."

Izuru swallowed down the rest of his laughter and she heard the shifts as he slowly leaned back onto his hands as well. He let out a deep sigh, which dakened the air immediately, and her smile shrank away. She chanted in her brain that she hadn't expected forgiveness, as he kept breathing out the ice of his misery from his own lungs to cling onto her.

"You also deserved it because of how you acted… If I hadn't been part of your triage team during that mission I probably wouldn't have changed my opinion of you."

Natsu let out a small hum at his words. She hadn't changed much in her personality, but she could be serious when she needed to be. The triage they had been sent out to, a little over three months after Izuru had transferred, and brought out that side. She had to make quick work of the remaining hollows with a busted lung because they had got caught off guard. Izuru had taken a bad blow to his arm, and the rest of the team had almost no combat experience.

It was the first time that she would use her manipulated healing technique on the worst off patients, as well as a level 60 bakudo to protect the entire squadron which was about fifteen people, including her. She busted through the weakening defenses with a strong level 60 hadou. The rest had gotten foggy but she remembered waking up with Izuru's face over her and shouting at her to stay awake for just a bit longer.

"I'mma pretty good yeah?" Natsu smirked and Izuru rolled his eyes. "Wha'? I tol' ya then tha' I was betta than ya knew."

"I never understood why and I always put it off to your pe—"

Natsu grunted slightly and then smacked his head again. As he rubbed at it, she trolled over his whine. "Ya weren't wrong. I do 'ate work… I like ma position 'cause jus' means I get less work."

"You really didn't have to hit me senpai."

"When ya goin' ta call me Natsu, 'Zuru. I ain't ya senpai anymo'."

Izuru turned slightly to see the small frown on the woman's lips. Natsu always had a deadpan on her face, or something indistinct that he couldn't read. It made it that much easier to see when she was actually smiling, smirking, or frowning, because all the other features stood out strongly against the normal tiredly bored expressions. That face, though, always held that immovable confidence that she seemed to have.

He could never explain it but there was a weird dimension of acceptance in the woman beside him. Whether it came from ignoring just about everything except for what was right in front of her or a true unearthed wholesomeness he had never bothered to figure out. She was overwhelming in her acceptance of herself. That same attribute stirred up fear in the others because when those odd colored eyes fell on them they felt a sort of demand to reach up and meet the expectation. It was no more than the ceiling she knew that they could reach, but it was a challenge that no one wanted to confront.

He opened his mouth to say something to the woman but then shut it tight. She might hate formalities of all type but he'd reserved that title for her. His hand slowly clenched up like jolt in his chest because she'd never understand that feeling of reverence. He quavered at the thought that beside him was a woman that had no respect for anyone. She couldn't put anyone on a pedestal at all because she was immensely empty of the feeling. That was the difference between the two of them he supposed.

"Senpai." her head slowly tilted over to him and he made out the waft of her heat that blazed down at him from her eyes. "Just accept that you'll always be that."

"Sucks." Natsu breathed out instantly and then moved back over to the sky to remove herself from the boy's scan. "An' ya once joked 'bout me callin' ya fukutaicho."

 _Izuru had been in the fourth division for about nine years by that point. He would sigh whenever she made jokes and try to snap her back to attention. He'd go searching for her constantly when someone would set him on her; namely, when he wasn't doing his own work. She, on the other hand, would try to make him less gloomy because it was 'tiring to be around someone so depressing' and she did her best to lazy around all day because she could._

 _Their only glue together was Rangiku who was already fukutaicho, and would often drag them both out of their offices to go and drink with her. At least, that was when her own captain was in his office and actually doing work, seeing as he also had the terrible tendency to go wandering and was completely casual about the position. That partnership didn't work out too well, with Rangiku getting furious at the man cutting into her own relaxation time, and the captain always doing it anyway because he could._

 _Izuru had found her out in the grass after another heavy search. There was a pick in his step and he had made a slow jog over to her, where she was slowly rolling over as she came out from her nap. He jostled her slightly and repeated out the delightful news. She warily took it in, and when she attempted to wave him off to get back to her nap, he shook at her shoulders and repeated it again._

 _They had been sitting with her still dragging her last foot out of the pits of sleep and him in his own daydream about the days to come. She took in the dreamy smile and shuddered at the thought of how messy everything had just become._

 _"Hey 'Zuru." He slowly tilted his head over to her and she nodded slightly at the smile. "Why'd cha want tha promotion?"_

 _"Ichimaru-taicho and Aizen-taicho saved my life and some of my friends when we were back at university. I've always admired them both for that." Izuru rubbed at his arm before letting out a sigh and then gave a small petulant look with a pucker in his lips and his eyes flickering over at the still half sliding figure and deadpan worn face of hers. "I suppose someone like you who hates work so much would never take a promotion for just that reason."_

 _"Never said tha'."_

 _Izuru took a look at the face again which was just now coming out of the dregs of sleep and then at the harsh swipe to her eyes. It was usually the first thing that people did, but it was always the last thing she did, almost as if she expected someone else to reach down and clean out the sleep from them before her._

 _"Would you ever take a promotion?"_

 _It was half said to himself and half said to her as he furrowed his brows curiously at the notion of the woman actually stepping up into a stronger position. He didn't understand her total reasoning, with all the power she kept hidden in her veins. He had always presumed it was because she was actually too lazy to do anything productive other than trying to avoid all her work._

 _Natsu shrugged and finally rested down onto her hands. "Prob'ly not."_

 _"Should have guessed that." Izuru puffed out as he let out a small chuckle._

 _She smirked slightly at the man's comment and then cocked an eyebrow. With a slow waggle of her tone she sung out, "shoulda, woulda."_

 _"Senpai." She turned over to him and perked an eyebrow at his wide grin. "You're going have to call me fukutaicho now."_

 _"Bah." Her hand waved about and then she turned over to the skyline. "You'd like tha' yeah? - When 'ave I eva been respe'tful?"_

 _"I guess I can't compete with that."_

 _"Too young 'Zuru - for tha."_

 _"No…. You're just flippant towards everyone."_

 _She let out a small huff and settled her hands down onto her crossed legs as she leaned onto them. Izuru hid a good bought of sarcasm in his veins under his doom and gloom, and it was amusing every time that she actually got a good reaction of him to entertain her. After all, it was only worth making a joke when someone was going to laugh or get a good rise out of it. Her zanpakuto always huffed and called her an instigator, but it was just too funny to see people overreacting to what she was saying._

 _Her shoulders might have already been visibly slumped but they gave her a bit more protection as she hardened out her heart to the idea of eventuality. Rangiku had been enough, and now from the boyish hope on the man's face she knew it was already over for him too._

 _"Hey 'Zuru." She saw the small twitch in her friend's head and her throat clamped up for a moment. She picked her way over to the blue eyes and then let out a slow sigh which blew her out of the way of his dreamy look again. "Congrats… Keep ya eyes out, yeah?"_

* * *

Another evening much the same as the one when she had met up with Izuru, Natsu found herself wandering. Sometimes she walk up by the moon, other times she would walk down on the ground. She had an early morning training with her captain but her feet were restless for once. She specifically avoided the areas where she knew Ukitake and Kyoraku were, because they had been persistently dogging her whenever they ran into each other at the fourth division. They weren't the only two, but they were the most obvious about trying to pull information out of her about what she had been doing in Aizen's lab.

 _How ironic._

 _The text message, Natsu?_

Natsu felt the smirk cracking through the clay as it twitched up at the voice. As annoying as it was, it was at least good to not feel completely nuts for talking to herself when someone else responded to her. It may have been part of her soul, but it was a different entity in her in looks, personality, and in voice.

 _I'm glad you find yourself not crazy. Myself on the other hand, I'm not to sure._

 _…. Ya suck._

Her eyes trailed slightly at she squatted down as she scratched at her head. It was a random corridor that her feet had turned her down, but she couldn't care as her fingers wandered into the breast of her shihakusho. They stayed over the pocket that contained the cellphone, and then slowly dragged it out so the silver device was staring at it.

Her thumb went down to the flap, and then slid under it just enough to pop it open. It wobbled slightly until her hand latched more firmly around it, until all her fingers were pressing against one of the keys on the dial pad. Her thumb wavered over the arrow keys at the top, and then just as the screen was going to turn black, she pressed to the right until she hit the messaging program.

Kisuke's name immediately popped up and when she hit down onto his new message her eyes barely could keep the words in check. Hurredly she pressed the phone up to her chest, and held it up near her heart as her head tilted back down. The tiles spelt out the words that were now cementing into her heart and her brain, chipping at had once been a previous message that she had received.

She blew the words out before the scratching of the signature could get bloodier as her head tilted up so that the moon would take it. "D-day, huh?"

There was that ghost of hand resting on top of her head again, and she felt it splaying her hair to all sides and screwing up her fringe. Her head tilted slightly over her shoulder again, expecting the sun to be on the opposite but only caught the blanket of black. Her eyes tightened at the star that winked back as it joked with her, trying to play off being that brilliant heat and failing miserably. She shuffled back to star at the moon, ignoring the small tremble along her lips.

There was a small tone as her fingers dug into the buttons and she went back to staring at the phone that was in her hands. It burned up as a contrast to the darkness around her and her eyes squinted slightly at the object. Slowly she closed it shut, and captured the message into the confines of its memory space. It was swept back into the folds of her shihakusho and she could stare up at the moon as her replacement for the moment.

* * *

 **A/N: I mean, I wonder what D-Day is referring too. ;) Any guesses?**

 **Please comment, review, question, share, etc! Thank you.**


	17. Chapter 16

She returned to slagging off work and not being able to slag off training. Her body was regretting it with each swipe of her sword as she went through forms, and the smallest quivers in her body when she did any sort of activity other than sleeping. It was, perhaps, the only time everyone had seen the frown on her face grow to be more fashionably permanent on her features; as were the grumbles that fell from her mouth. Not to say that she was out of shape exactly. Missions kept her body in high working efficiency and order, but the consistency of her training was made for only one part of her soul; the lion part of her zanpakuto which she wanted to wrap a muzzle around. Thankfully, Unohana was more aware of her students than other diabolical higher ups and so it wasn't like she was losing out on sleep. No, in fact, it appeared to her that she may have fallen subconsciously into Unohana's own make-shift work regime because while she found she was getting enough sleep, she was not able to get away with napping. She was a victim of order and schedule, much to her dismay and to her zanpakuto's amusement.

Until the day arrived when a hell butterfly made its way to Unohana's finger whilst they had been just about to start up some training for the day. Two pairs of eyes met; one listening to the message and the other already aware of the contents. With a sigh, Natsu swung her sword back into her sheath and before Unohana could speak a word was already making her way to her room to assemble her things. She tumbled through her medical equipment again as a safety measure, though she had never left a loop or canister empty, or had forgotten a bandage before. Then she moved them over to the sword.

Her fingers trailed slightly over the zanpakuto which she had placed on her desk whilst she prepared. It had been a constant partner for the past weeks since she had been using it so much. The feel of it had grown more supple in her hands; the material more giving as she tightened her fingers along the material. There was even from blending of discoloration from the sweat stains around the fabric of her hilt from the constant use. Callouses had grown a bit more hardened in her hands, but oddly, for the first time, she found them useful as they kept the sword from slipping in her grip when she was swinging it every which way and twisting it around in circles in her hands.

Even with her fingers still on the shimmering and the jittery piece of metal, odd familiarity and comfort making its way through her, her eyes had moved on to the instrument that was glinting slightly in the light that was streaming through the window. She walked slowly over, eyes leeching to the sky blue that was still folded up neatly, and then the cherry wood. Her hand hovered up and as it gently guided itself closer to the object it seemed to move further away from her. Just as her finger tips broached the shadows, inches away from the wood, she gave up. Instead, she swung the curtains closed, hiding the instrument, to try and prevent any bits of dust from collecting inside the small closet. She would be gone for a few months after all.

She turned back to the desk and sealed the zanpakuto back into the sun on her wrist. She fiddled slightly with the collar of her top and straightened out her sleeves slightly. She glanced at the medical satchel and then shrunk it, so that it was easy to store into another pocket. She patted slightly and made out all her communication devices, and then dragged out of the room without looking back once, even as the door rattled in her wake.

"Natsu-san."

Natsu immediately turned over towards her captain who was wandering down the hall. Ayake was just over the captain's shoulder, and she had to let out another sigh. The woman was just there to join for the one night and to see how drastic her time in the cell had been and how her recovery had been going. It had been a recent addition, with the Sou-taicho just coming to knowledge that she could already preform shikai, although the rest of her strength was yet to be seen. No one had been able to observe this remarkable rise in ability, though the former prisoner had the onmitsukido on her tail at all times apparently, so it did come as a bit of a shock.

Natsu found the situation to be pretty humorous; not laugh out loud funny, but intensely dark funny. She liked the idea that the woman could still manage to surprise people that thought they knew her and that had imagined a weakened woman from newest additions to the ranks of Shinigami always looked at her nervously, which led to a wicked flare of laughter from Natsu. Seeing people squirm was oddly amusing Natsu found.

It was also not nearly so shocking for her as it was for some. Not to say that Natsu wasn't impressed. While she knew, retrospectively, Ayake had dispelled all sorts of records during her time as captain of the tenth and vice-captain of the second, it was very different living through that era more consciously. The former prisoner was genuinely a genius of something, Natsu wasn't sure if it was just hard-work or obduracy or something else entirely - and the Sou-taicho's words to her, of how he had kept an eye on her, made all the more sense. The growth was scientifically kind of an anomaly, not completely because the woman had tons of support in her development and Natsu had a small inkling of how it occurred because she understood the effects of sealing better than most. Natsu could even say inspiring for some if they weren't so terrified of the former prisoner. And while Natsu had continued doing a few minor check ups, she knew that the woman was working herself to the bone. Little words had to be passed between them. They both already understood that she would be going to war, with or without the consent of the Sou-taicho.

"Sup, cap."

Unohana smiled slightly and Ayake smoothly transferred to hover over her shoulder instead before the captain could finish the gesture. "Please take care of Yuko-san… Additionally, you're back please."

Natsu turned so that she was looking at the ex-con. The first major change was that Ayake had shaved off her hair, which was now only a buzzcut. Her hair had been disastrous, and it was quickly found that not only was her scalp in poor condition, and her hair was brittle to the extent it could snap off, but she also showed signs of lice and sometimes maggots harboring in the wispy strings of her hair. The new cut brought out all the features of her face and helped to lift the sagginess from it as if the hair had been stretching the skin with its weight.

Ayake's brows had become furrowed slightly as they faced each other, but it was the only difference in the cold mask that was on her face. Dark, obsidian eyes observing and cataloging the event, even trying to peer demurely over her shoulder to see what the captain was doing. Natsu roved over the smooth precision of the woman's shihakusho since she didn't really want to look back at noble coldness for the next few moments. The robes fell a bit to to heavily down on the woman's shoulder and even at the smallest size for her height, it was still too baggy around her skinny frame.

There had been some major improvement, with her face filling out, particularly as her appetite improved with her reiatsu increasing. It was too minimal to do anything that constructive to the woman's beauty but it was enough to make her look like she was officially on the mend. She had not yet escaped the threshold of underweight, still with her limbs too tiny and there being too little muscular development, but it was enough to make a dent in how her face was shaped and how her features were set. Natsu had to blink slightly at what the time had done to the woman, and gave herself a tentative pat on the back that she had gotten the woman's zanpakuto out of her before her condition had actually gotten worse.

Natsu felt the sudden pop which shattered her observations of the smaller woman, and turned over to see the smile on Unohana's face. The last seal had been released and Natsu gave a slow nod of her head to the woman. Those seals had been on her since she was a child and were the only trace of her connection to the Gotei 13 that she had bothered to maintain in her times away from the organization. She didn't remember receiving them, having been that young when she was brought to Unohana the first time. She could have ridden herself of them long ago, with her own knowledge of seals, but they had helped. Albeit they had helped barely. It was like keeping everything at the level of a deeply annoying paper cut.

It was only recently with her encounter with Aizen that she had popped the first two forcibly, and there had only been one remaining which Unohana had just gotten to. Now, if she chose to walk away there would be no residual effects, and if it got bad again she could do it herself with the new knowledge of how the medical seals had worked.

"Take care of yourselves Natsu-san, Yuko-san." Unohana spoke at them and tilted her way in a mother would. "I hope not to hear that either of you have gotten injured."

"Thanks cap."

Natsu gave her a swift smirk and then moved about, not waiting for Ayake. There was a moment were feet came after her in a very quiet jog, almost like sheets of paper swiping through the air; privileges of being a well trained assassin Natsu was sure. Then the ex-con was moving by her side. There arms brushed slightly as they continued down the hall and then made a quick exit so that they were traversing through the corridors of the Seireitei.

"Will you not give me any warnings?" Yuko spoke out suddenly.

Natsu only gave her a quick look before returning her eyes back up to the front. "I don't particularly care wha' ya do. Ya can take care of yaself… Ya grown up."

"That's not what a guard should say."

Natsu paused and clutched to the woman's forearm, fingers overlapping at the shrunken width, before the ex-con could get another step in. There was a tiny jolt, as the prisoner was swung around; perhaps in unpreparedness or in nervousness. Natsu couldn't read what was going on, though she'd like to think that sometimes her well practiced high speed could throw most people off. She sunk down, bending at the knees, so that they were more at eye-level, and peered at her intently which was met only with the frozen eyes that hadn't begun thawing yet. Natsu nodded slightly at the dark, obsidian eyes and let a smirk come back onto her face, which had the woman furrowing her brows.

Natsu spoke out slowly and watched the small shifts in the guard that the woman had put up. "I know wha' ya capable of, an' I ain't good at followin' ordas. Ya chose ta go an' give some advice ta a boy than go 'head."

"You're a horrible guard."

"I ain't a guard. Jus' Natsu." Natsu put out blandly and let her hands slink into the folds of her pockets in her hunched over position. "I don't care wha' 'appened, don't care who ya were, and don't care wha' ya do. Jus' don't die … 'cause tha's jus' too much hassle ta clean up, got it?"

Ayake opened her mouth slightly and then closed it while an eyebrow raised. "You won't stop me?"

"You'll save me a trip if ya scare Ichi 'nough."

"And why would I need to scare him?"

Natsu returned to her full height and cocked her head so that they could continue to walk over to the meet up. Ayake followed only seconds after which made it easier to speak to her. "'Cause he got 'imself inta somethin' ya know 'bout, righ'?"

Yuko let out a small hum and then that was it as the wind carried them over to the senkaimon that had been set up to let them travel safely over towards the human realm. Some captains were there to see them off, particularly the Sou-taicho who was giving out last minute reminders and orders. Ayake had been thrust over - rudely beckoned in Natsu's mind -, which was actually met with a steady walk over much to some of the older captains, and then promptly ignored for listening to the older man that would not have the woman disobey a single thing.

 _He's really tough on 'er. An' he said tha' he was interested in 'er._

 _He also mentioned he was very disappointed with her._

 _…. An' tha' means he can't lighten up on 'er? Tha trackin' charm and tha reiatsu inhibitor is 'nough don't cha think?_

Natsu roved her eyes slightly over the advanced group that had been assembled. Rukia was the only one looking particularly keen at getting to the human world. It came to everyone's knowledge about how she would probably go and give Ichigo a hard time. All the information had been dispersed to those in the group, minus Ayake, about how Ichigo was fairing and the true powers of hollowfication. Rukia swore she would sort him out with grand words. It was easy to see that she was still planning out how exactly she would do it from the intense muttering she was doing next to Abarai.

When the information had been distributed, minimally adapted for the broad audiences of the entire Seireitei, the whispers had turned to awe much to Natsu's chagrin. It wasn't forgiveness, per say, since a lot of the Shinigami didn't like the fact that she had worked subterfuge in their midst; some were even slightly aggressive about it, thinking they could get away with it since she was in the fourth division. Overall, though, many people had simply backed off, and then the war preparations had started so people had very little time to continue with their made-up ideas or spreading different types of gossip.

While the information had been distributed broadly, the captain's, however, were given the full details. The arrancar situation was quickly put on every one's radar, the juicy details of which were only passed to those that would be directly on the front lines - like this group - and a few others in the twelfth division for research purposes. However, Natsu was absolutely sure that Ayake had caught onto her hints about what was going on with the boy that the ex-con had been told about. While Ayake had first looked at her with confusion, mostly unprepared for someone else to know the truth about her, she had taken it in stride. Natsu half expected her to jump on her throat and demand answers, but the older woman only nodded and would cast her looks during their healing sessions.

There was a small clearing of a throat behind her and Natsu turned over to see Ayako had come up. Those blue eyes roamed slightly and then gave a definitive nod, as she sung out the clear praise. "You look prepared."

"I guess." Natsu shrugged slightly as she smoothed out her fringe. "I - I fixed ma hair."

"Did you? Let me see what you did. I didn't see anything."

Natsu turned around slightly and pulled at the two lengths of hair so that they came about slightly. It allowed her to show off the small triangle that she had cut into the middle of the patch at the bottom. Although the two blonde whips were still close together, it was much clearer that they were individual with how the triangle separated them. Then she let the two lengths fall so that the woman could see how it fell when it was down along her back.

"Very nice, Natsu." Natsu turned her head slightly and then followed through with her body at the smile on the woman's face. "And you got your last seal off?"

"Yeah… Ma cap did it jus' 'fore I left."

Ayako nodded after a second as her gaze flickered over to the ex-con and then back at her. The older mentor pierced out some sharp words that were a bit rehearsed, but only through the echoes of time and not those practiced in front of a mirror. "I trust her because I trust you. – But you make sure to make yourself the priority, okay? Watch your back."

"Course." Natsu let a smirk come along her face and nodded slightly, before waving at the air. "Ya worrin' is makin' me tired 'lready, Ayako."

Ayako took in the tiniest spring in her young subordinate's cheeks, and had to smile at it. To think that such little praise would make her a bit more peppery was a funny thought, but it also brought about a little more questioning. A Shinigami's mentality was a strong thing, but Natsu had been invisible to many for forty years and was at the receiving end to suspicion for weeks now. Though the smirk and the behavior were still there, it was easy to tell that the young girl had been slowly loosing energy. Especially when she seamlessly transitioned into training, because although she whined, she never tried to get out of them.

Natsu blinked a few times and looked over her shoulder at the gesturing Yumichika. She turned back, and found herself brought down with Ayako's hand coming across her shoulders. The other set of shoulders supported the other person's head as Ayako brought them closer. As uncomfortable as it was to hunch down over the woman, Natsu slowly patted on her back, until she was allowed to return to full standing height.

"Take care of yourself Natsu."

Natsu looked at the shining eyes and then looked away, scratching at her cheek. "Che - ya cryin'? Ain't nothing' happened yet."

"Just promise me you'll watch your back."

Natsu gazed at the woman from the corner of her eye and she jaw seized up slightly. Her eyes floated down to the ground at the pump in her heart, and she clenched up her fists. She wavered down to her hands that gave a slight tremble. Another pulse came through and she felt so conscious of how the blood tingled through her, and the normalcy of it. Yet there was also that small rush that only came from the intense heat of being under Ayako's eyes.

She kept her eyes firmly on her left hand as she held it up, and then she bunched down on the air as she held it out to her. She glanced at the woman as she held it out to with a pinky slowly extending out. Her eyes wandered away from the curious look as she spoke, "I'll give ya a promise then."

"O – Oh."

Their two pinkies link and then they locked it slightly by touching the pads of their thumbs together as Natsu mumbled out the explanation. Ayako chuckled slightly but she followed through nonetheless, particularly when she saw the embarrassed sag in the younger girl's head. They held it strong for just a few seconds before Natsu was pulling back and Ayako let her go off.

"Been a bit since I did tha'." Natsu nodded along to the affirmation of her words as she slowly trailed back. "But ain't eva broken one."

Ayako smiled and nodded as well. "Then let's not make this the first one."

Natsu gave her a smirk before she turned and made an easy trapeze over to the group, with the white haired captain also finally trailing away from the Sou-taicho. Ayake was just off to the side, and Natsu easily slipped next to her as the small bridge between the large group and the ex-con. She met the Sou-taicho's gaze from where she was, and she saw just the faintest nod in what appeared to be approval.

The old man swiftly moved along and gave out his final words as the senkaimon officially opened up. "You all know you're orders. Do your work proudly and efficiently."

The group nodded and then Natsu was zooming off with the group into the tunnel of the dangai. Yumichika siddled up right next to her and picked up on of the trails of hair delicately. His pert eyebrow raised and then he let out a sigh as he dropped it back off. Then he was rubbing his fingers along her bicep as if it were a napkin and her hair had been just that dirty.

"Will you not listen to my suggestions, Natsu?"

"An' braid ma 'air? Forget it."

Rangiku pulled up next to her as well with a soft pout on her lips. "And you haven't even worn my present for you."

"Tha' piece of pink ya gave me? Too bright."

"Natsu—" They both started to clambor over one another to speak to her and she immediately dropped back to walk with Ikkaku. For as long as she had known them, they hadn't gotten along since they both wanted equal amounts of attention. Their egos clashed a bit too much with their vanity and their differing opinions.

"Kotomi." She turned slightly over to the white haired captain who was doing his best to ignore the loud arguing that was taking place. "I heard you'll not be coming to inform Kurosaki about what's going on."

"I'mma wit' Ayake so I won't even be gettin' a gigai." Natsu pointed with her thumb over to the woman that was still lingering towards the back of the group. Hitsugaya gave the woman a quick look and then came back to her. "Don't worry I'mma betta than ya think."

"She's only here for the one day and night so that's nice, but if you have any trouble with her just let me know. The Sou-taicho has given me full jurisdiction over her."

"Nah. Ayake ain't tha problem, cap." There was an intense burn on her back and Natsu flashed the woman a smirk before turning back to the conversation. "Focus on gettin' Ichi back ta normal firs'. I can handle tha woman jus' fine."

"Yeah don't worry too much Hitsugaya." Ikkaku slung his arm around her shoulder and she let him drag her slightly over towards him. "She may be a weakling at the fourth division, but she's the strongest outta that bunch."

Yumichika gave a small nod in agreement to the statement and Natsu shrugged when she received a few curious glances. She had met the two at the academy and they had not been close to immediate friends. Yumichika had been better at hiding his disdain for her fighting style, but Ikkaku had written her off immediately.

 _"Now we will be having Kotomi Natsu against Madarame Ikkaku."_

 _There was a collective whisper along the floor as the two people stood up to go up to the mat. It wasn't a free spare, but both zanjustu and small bits of hakuda were allowed. It was no surprise when the bald man was sliding into his stance with his sure grip on his boken and a signature smirk on his face. He had, after all, his reputation firmly cemented as going to the eleventh division and he made it very well known that he agreed with those rumors._

 _Natsu was a grade A slacker, other than during exam time. She slept a good portion of times during class and lazily wafted in the corridors. She stuck out from everyone else because she didn't even care if she walked in fifteen minutes late to class, and she talked to upperclassmen like they were nothing but colleagues at her level._

 _Additionally it didn't help that she looked younger than the majority of students. While most people of their graduation grade looked like they were in their early to mid twenties, Natsu was probably had a foot just on the cusp out of her teenage years. It went along with her thin stature and her gangly height which she didn't know how to use quite yet. When compared to the rest of the people, she did stick out for just that one reason._

 _Her theory for life was that as long as she made up the work at other times, which she did hartily since she wasn't a genius, then it didn't really matter when she slept or when she didn't. That, however, was not well known among the student body, so most were always surprised that she had survived over the past three years. The shock got even more surprising when she scored decently on the exams; always in the top 30 more specifically._

 _"Ready to loose Kotomi?"_

 _"Boke." She slowly dropped into stance and fixed her grip. "Course I'mma gonna lose."_

 _Ikkaku snapped up with his mouth screwing into a purse as he pointed his boken at her face while she stared at him with wide blinking eyes at the sudden change. "You're pissing me off."_

 _"Think 'bout it. Tha way ya an' I figh' is completely different."_

 _The teacher slowly recalled their attention and it fell silent around the room as the two faced each other again. As the arm swung down and the teacher backed up immediately, the two students launched head first at one another. Natsu aimed for a precision strike along his leg, where the resounding smack followed and there was a small point gifted to her, but the fight carried on with her being stuck on defense._

 _Yumichika had watched silently from the sidelines and caught on to what she had mentioned just as the fight was starting. She was a precision cutter, and if it had been a real fight all the cuts that she managed to slip in through the defenses would have Ikkaku bleeding out. Between her arm strength and her low endurance it made the most sense, but against someone like Ikkaku who was battle crazy and deft with erratic strategy it did very little good._

 _He let out a small little hum at the flinging scratch that she had gotten before she was flipping backwards to give them more space. He slumped down onto his hand and grinned slightly into his hand. She was certainly an odd one to look at while she fought, but it wasn't the ugliest style he had ever seen. She knew how to handle the blade well and she had accounted for her own weakness, even if she was doing so a bit awkwardly as if she was really just learning how to customize her technique to herself. There was actually a certain beauty in the way that her sword slashed straight through the air and as it was sliding along the opponent's body._

 _"Time."_

 _The two bodies stopped immediately. Natsu sunk heavily into her knees as she supported herself up with the boken. Ikkaku on the other hand stood up straight and held the sword on his shoulder as he looked down at the exhausted girl. His eyes narrowed slightly and could still make out the tingle of the last smack that she had left on his skin._

 _"I'm going to have to give the win to Kotomi." Both their heads tore over to the proctor who held up his hands defensively, particularly seeing the bulging vein going through Ikkaku's head. "Had you been using real swords… Madarame you would have sustained very serious injury and potentially have bled to death without finishing the fight."_

 _"Wha'… I'm clearly tha one out of breath an' my endure—"_

 _"Finishing a fight tired is usually very normal, Kotomi." There was a small chime of laughter on the man's voice as he swatted at her opposition._

 _Ikkaku slashed his boken down right onto her head and she grumbled as she reached up to hold onto it because of the stinging pain. "Shut up." He cut off the words out just about to leave her mouth and then held the boken right by her nose. "I'll give ya this win because I wasn't prepared. That's fine…. Next time I'll beat you."_

 _"Boke." Natsu huffed slightly and pushed at the sweaty fring so that it stayed up and over her scalp. "I tol' ya tha' already… Ma—"_

 _"Yeah you're fighting is different than my fighting. Great." Ikakku snapped and the woman started glaring at him for interrupting once again. "I'll adapt so that next time I really will win."_

 _Yumichika watched as the two bickered slightly as they came over towards him. He easily introduced him with his hand out, and was surprised by how calloused the female's skin was compared to how pale and clean her face had looked. It wasn't to the level of Ikkaku's and they were in different places, but the hardened and dried skin was still there._

 _He gave the woman another easy glance and chuckled again at her look of indignation as she was slumped up against her hands. Her back made an easy curve over her body as she hunched down to each of her knees in their cross legged position._

 _She gave him a curious glance out of the corner of her eye and raised a thin brow, but he only waved it off. "You'd be much prettier if you sat up. Slouching detracts from your form."_

 _"Says tha guy slouchin'."_

 _He looked down at his own form which was positioned in a small boat as he leaned back onto his hands, and at the one leg that was tucked like it was to be crossed but the other that was bent with the knee stuck up to the ceiling. He let out another chuckle and came up onto his bottom as he wrapped his arms around his folded leg as he cuddled it slightly._

 _Natsu blinked a few times and then the wall slipped slightly and the brilliance of the yellow-ish sap in her eyes burned up, lighting the freckles of oakish red with an intensity Yumichika hadn't been expecting at all. She gave him a smirk and then a slow waggle of her finger before moving over to the match._

 _"Can't give me 'vice ya not takin' yaself, okay?"_

 _"Sure, Natsu."_

 _"Great Yumi."_

 _Yumichika automatically blanched and stuck his tongue out as the nickname was a horrible bite of some gruesome food. "Don't call me something so horrendous."_

 _"I ain't callin ya by ya whole name." Natsu shrugged slightly and her smirk increased at the prospect of her new victim. "An' I ain't callin' ya 'Chika, so Yumi it is."_

 _"I reject it."_

 _"Too bad." Natsu twittered out as she began to calm down next to the two men. They were weird in their own right, anyway, she decided. "I'mma stickin' wit' it."_

* * *

 **A/N: So that's been the newest chapter! Guys and girls, I just wanted to say thank I'm genuinely so excited about this series and I hope you are too. I think comparatively to Building a Home the writing process for this story has been much smoother.**

 **Shout out to Zeriame for my newest review. Thank you so very much. I hope you keep enjoying how the story progresses.**

 **Please continue to communicate in any way shape or form. Comment/review/question/anything whatsoever. You know the drill... I was also just realizing that I forgot to mention I'm also completely available for private messaging if that's what floats your boat. Hope to hear from you all.**


	18. Chapter 17

"So this is the human world, huh?" Ikkaku muttered out as they all stood by the river.

They had arrived not moments ago, being spat out by the entrance of the gate onto a riverside somewhere in Karakura Town. The gigai had been transported not seconds before and the rest of the group had been stuffing themselves into the dolls. Natsu had observed the moments as they groaned and wrung out their shoulders to test out the limits of their doppelganger bodies. To her they looked no different, minus the obvious apparel change. She could only imagine just how confining the corpses were. Once before she had heard it compared to being swaddled by five thick blankets meant to enclose a very tiny baby's body in the middle of the summer during a record high heat wave. Especially with how much thinner the air in the human world was with reishi, it was probably a bad combination for breathing.

Natsu took a small swerve on the green patch they were on and momentarily stared at the smoothly running water just by their side. Her arms slowly pushed down into her pockets until she was just up against the seams with her knuckles and let out a deep sigh. Her eyes wandered further into the water and touched just upon its translucence as she could make out the rocky soil that was beneath the small splashes of running water.

The river was no where near the reflection of how her insides felt. Her's was a dark body of water that was almost the color of black where there was no end in sight. Everything inside her was acting as if there was a tsunami that was about to come crashing in and swipe away at whatever had been able to foster to coexist in her constantly purging body. She could already make out the loud sirens going off and then the screams of the people as they struggled around to figure out what to do under the torrent of watery, oppressive water that was beginning to choke. Then there was that deep hush that echoed tremors through her, until the water pressed down and drowned out her entire existence.

"Natsu?"

She jerked up with a quick inhale and looked over at Yumichika who was pressing his eyebrows together. He roved for a moment, figuring out her features Natsu was sure, and then cleared out the confused features on his face. Contrasting his passionate position as the fifth seated member of the eleventh division, he pressed his hand rather gently onto her shoulder to get her to lean forward. Once they were closer together, he slowly raked his fingers through her fringe and made sure that it was all pressed flat along the skin of her forehead.

"There." He pulled back slightly and then gave her shoulder a quick pat. "Now you look at least a bit presentable."

"Ya suck, Yumi."

"That's not beautiful at all Natsu."

She stuck out her tongue and he flew backwards just a bit as he shook his head. He had always claimed it was not beautiful to act so childishly, but he had stopped reprimanding her for it all the time. Just like he had stopped trying to get her to say his full name, instead of that 'atrocious' nickname that she had for him. It now all fell into good natured ribbing with one another when they did get to see each other.

"Yo," Ikkaku spoke as he came up to them, "that woman gives you any problems make sure you deal with it. I don't want to go cleaning up your mess."

Natsu slouched up to her full height and fixed at the pony-tails at her back. Her eyes flew to the side as she spoke from the side of her mouth, "ya got no right ta say tha' ta me."

"Shut up Natsu."

"Make sure ya explain everythin' properly ta Ichi," Natsu retorted back. As she turned her eyes back to the bald man, who was clenching down on the wood sword at the twist forming about her lips, she gave a tiny tilt of her head. "Cause we all know ya suck wit' words, baldy."

"Who's bal—"

"Ikkaku, we're going now." Yumichika jerked the man by the arm as he started toting them over towards the rest of the group. The peacock only gave a small shout over his shoulder as he went to join the group, "see you later Natsu."

Ikkaku began to let out semi-strangled barks as he was toted away like a small chihuahua stuck in the purse on Yumichika's arm. Natsu held up a limp hand, - momentarily giving a tiny jeering flick towards an aggressively moving Ikkaku - as she watched them heading in the direction of the group. She let out a sigh and then scratched at her head. Her eyes roved over the area - the tiny bits of grass which broke away from what appeared to be the busier part of town - before she turned over towards Ayake.

The woman was sitting patiently off by the water edge. Natsu raised her eyebrow at the squatted position knowing that the woman had been getting treatment to help straighten her legs again. Apparently she had been stuck in a squat for one hundred years, so she had needed a bit of therapy to straighten out her knee tendons and then to strengthen the leg muscles again just so that she could walk; at that was all before she could even leave her room. Yet there she was. Ayake Ichiyuko was perfectly content with squatting away with her arms hugging her own legs into a tight ball and her chin set onto the cradle of her knees, as if it hadn't been a position of pain for a century.

Natsu slowly came up and took a wider squat, legs splayed wide into far reaching diagonals from her body, by the woman. Her fingers played slowly with the ends of her hakama, sometimes dipping to touch at the skin of her ankles. "Whatta ya wanna do now?"

"You're asking me?"

"I said it ta ya already," Natsu ground out a bit as she peered at the woman who was already looking at her. "I ain't ya guard, so of course I'mma askin' ya wha' ya wanna do."

"I suppose we should take a walk around the town."

"Fine."

Natsu got up with a groan, knees letting out a whining buzz from getting up awkwardly, and then started her trudge to backtrack back up to where she had been previously. She narrowed her eyes slightly and then turned over her shoulder to see Ayake still sitting exactly where she had been for the past minutes. The woman was watching her with an intensity that was only for those trying to figure out a puzzle and Natsu grimaced at the serious look on the woman's face. She turned back around to at least hide her face from the scrutiny of the woman's glare, one that was rumored to be too intelligent and too quick, and let out a loud sigh as her head dropped backwards to look up at the sky.

"I don't understand." Natsu heard from behind her whilst she watched a tiny blimp of white slowly cross through her vision and bloke out the bright radiance of the sun's residual rays. "You should be acting like the others."

Natsu shuffled a bit around as her head came down with a bang which snapped her neck. "I tol' ya I ain't good at followin' ordas."

"Orders have nothing to do with how you're treating me." Ayake spoke slowly as Natsu made out the crisp sounds of grass crinkling as the ex-con made her way closer, as if she was the one going up to a wounded animal. "You should hate me."

Natsu blinked a few times as if her eyes, who couldn't even turn to look at the woman who most certainly had that glint in her obsidian eyes, would help her make sense and block through the segments of that statement. As if accepting and resolving the concept of hating the woman could be solved as if snapping a photo of the worn woman. Natsu's eyes flickered slightly and she felt a small shadow come about her so that she could look at the woman more objectively while still being present with the ghostly woman. To the history books, she should hate the woman for her crimes against the Gotei 13. She should be distrusting and rude towards her, and treat her like a piece of garbage. To her own honor, she should want to severe all ties with the woman and to have her crucified for her deeds.

There was a blaze of heat from the growl that came from her own heart, instead of the lion that usually controlled her bloodlust and more angry feelings. It came curling up the center of her throat to spew out crazy sentiments and declarations. Once it reached her face the heat only helped to melt at the shadow slightly. It slowly leaked away from her face and disappeared back to wherever it had come from and leant her a hand at coming back to the reality of the situation.

Natsu shrugged slightly and turned her head off to the side so that she wouldn't have to look any longer at the confused face that was just behind the cold mask that woman was still wearing. Her words came like the sigh from her own exhaustion for having to deal with her feelings. "Shoulda, woulda… I's too tirin' ta hate ya so jus' 'cept it."

"But it's you wh-"

"I ain't nobody special." Natsu plugged up the closest ear to the woman's words as her own words wouldn't suffice to break through the memories that were tagging along. "I'mma Kotomi Natsu. Workin' fo' tha fourth division, an' tha's it."

A loose thread dangled between them, connected by their eyes matching with one another finally and sewing between their wrists. It didn't flutter and it wasn't taunt. It was the perfect length to coil around the two as they fell into their own understandings of the situation. Two parallel understandings for the two conscious observations and the two conscious deducations, which passed through just that tiny string and met at the middle.

Ayake slowly nodded and then pressed her hand down onto her chest. "I'd appreciate being called Yuko then, Natsu."

"Cool. Ya name's long anyway."

"I suppose it is."

The two made a slow wander around the town. At one point Natsu let out a small snicker at feeling Ichigo's reiatsu suddenly spike and then come out steady as he fought off a hollow that was in the nearby vacinity. Apparently she had assumed correctly at how Rukia would deal with the situation and to get him back on track. Afterall, he was just the type of guy that had to battle through everything to get to the solution.

"Tha's Ichi, by tha way."

Yuko let out a small hum and squinted her eyes over at the blaze of reiatsu as she tried to memorize it. "I can barely feel that. Is it suppose to be a lot? That's what Ukitake told me."

"Yeah… Guy's got somethin' beyond captain level reiatsu."

"And you?" Natsu paused slightly and slowly ticked her head over to the woman that was walking beside her. "I don't recall fourth division ever being allowed down to the human realm. Are you strong then?"

Natsu shrugged slightly. She didn't have a care in the world for strength really. She only knew how she sufficed against others. For instance, with Ikkaku she normally lost in the academy when they were only fighting with zanpakutos and hakudo. However, if she was allowed to use kido, as they did when they got closer to graduation, she had been able to beat him because she surpassed him when it came to that.

"I guess." She spoke slowly as she tried to figure it out herself and then scratched at her head like it was hurting from all the work. "I did well in tha kido corps an' I stayed a twentieth seat in the fourth 'cause it jus' means less work, but tha ol' man wanted me down 'ere so I gotta have somethin'."

"Twentieth seat? – Now, even I can tell you're way above that level."

"Thanks."

Yuko left the conversation with a small nod, but then came back in a moment later as she turned her face up to face Natsu. "You mentioned Kido corps."

"Yeah." Natsu supplied slowly. "I was there before I transferred ta tha Gotei 13."

"What position were you there?"

Kido corps was arranged slightly different than the Gotei 13. There was, of course, the captain and lieutenant positions who were the strongest users in almost all the areas of the demon arts, even if they did specialize. Beneath those two were different quadrents which worked separately and had their own hierarchies from one another and had their own 'captain'. Those leaders of the branch wings were the ones that worked directly with the captain and lieutenant and reported to them.

"Works a bit differently there." Natsu smirked slightly and cocked her head. "But I guess I was somethin' of a third seat if I was ta translate it."

"Impressive."

"Che - Ain't like tha'…. Jus' always been betta' wit' kido than anythin' else."

"All Shinigami have strong and weak points," Yuko muttered out again and Natsu turned her head down to the stouter woman. "A high seated position is a recognition despite those weak points."

Natsu grumbled as she looked off to the side and the conversation fell silent once again. The two women continued their wander across the town with little interruption, except for killing a single hollow, and with no voices speaking.

* * *

The two of them spent time wandering close up to shop windows, browsing through the panes of glass, or even spending time wandering through shop goers as they slipped inside to see more clearly what was on offer. They both had numerous amounts of questions it seemed. Many of which they couldn't answer but they could make educated guesses based on their observational capabilities. The jumping off points from rumors and some prior knowledge, helped pave the way for most of their conversation and their questions. Yuko turned out to be the most insightful, between the two of them, about how the human world worked, even with the one hundred year gap in knowledge. The older woman knew a lot about the eating culture, and the dressing culture which was fascinating to Natsu who had spent little time down in the human world.

After her brief encounter with Kisuke during that one mission before she left the Kido Corps, she had only come down to the human world twice after; both visits much too short to give her any time to explore. Being apart of the fourth division was an impediment to her movements toward him, but her knowledge from the kido corps and how to use the senkaimons to the living world helped to counter that. Those two subsequent trips to his shop were very brief to keep them as covert as possible.

The first visit had been to agree to the plan and to have him figure out a way so that they could push information back and forth about the on-goings. The second was the pick up the cellphone which eventually was the only way they continued their dialogue between one another. Their conversations were never more than civil, and they talked only when necessary so there was actually very little that they knew about one another. It was, however, her knowledge of the full story and all the details that she had been able to wrack up since, which gave Natsu a bit more of an upper-hand in understanding the blonde man than vice versa. Every now and again she wondered if Kisuke was ever bothered by the fact that she held more of an understanding about him, for if there was one thing that she knew off the bat from meeting him it was that he liked to dissect and have a full understanding of what was going on around him and the people that he worked with.

The edges of the sun had disappeared long after they had both settled back at the river back. Natsu had flung herself up against the grass as a wide starfish, while Yuko had taken a squat by her. The night's air was falling thick between them as they rested while the rest of the light finally collapsed. The river instantly was mirror to the blinking stars above them, so even though they were looking in different directions they were staring at the same things.

 _Wonda if… Nevamind._

 _Are you thinking about that text message again, Natsu?_

 _…_ _Stop readin' ma mind._

 _If you spoke to me more than perhaps I wouldn't read your mind._

 _Shudup_

Natsu growled slightly and closed her eyes slightly. She only opened them again as she heard Yuko from the other side, "your zanpakuto again?"

"Yeah… We don't 'ave tha bes' relationship."

"I see." The older woman shifted slightly until she was looking over her shoulder and down at Natsu's prone form. "I've always had a good relationship with Kumo so I don't think I can help with that."

Natsu came up until she was resting along her hands as she replied, "don't care… I ain't lookin' fo' advice."

It had crawled up like a slug along the wall. Every single centimeter it came closer it left along that slimy residue which was both viscous and transparent at the same time. Except this was like when the slug moves when the eyes are closed, and then suddenly it's in a different place than it was originally leaving the brain with a momentary struggle of comprehending. It brought about a small moment of shock because it was just unexpected that the slug had moved that far in just a night.

Yet there was the new reiatsu which suddenly swamped over the area, and Natsu's eyes jolted up wide as she felt the beings that traveled to them. Her teeth ground down slightly as she made out the seven distinct arrancars in the area.

"Get up, Yuko."

"Pardon?"

"They're here."

Yuko narrowed her eyes as well and tried to stretch out her sensing abilities, which were still lagging behind with her other minuscule developments back to her former glory. Natsu watched as those same eyes grew wide and the former ex-con's mouth slipped open just slightly at the new feeling that she finally connected to. It was harsh and splintering along the air, and swarmed like bees over a broken beehive before they were just about to launch on the aggressor in an oppressive cloud.

"I's good ya gotta readin'." Natsu hefted the woman up slightly and they started moving. "Ya gonna 'ave ta get ova ta Ichi."

They both paused at the sudden appearance before them. Immediately, Natsu found herself slipping just in front of the woman, who was technically weaker at the moment, and stood up straight as she took in the new intruder to their peaceful evening.

He was a middle sized male with thickened muscles that took up a lot of his weight and bulk. He wasn't the largest man that she had ever seen, being beaten in both height and muscle mass by quite a few, but he certainly put the leaner, toned men that made up the advanced unit to shame. Though he was above them in the air, she could already tell they were just about the same height if not just slightly taller than her.

He was wearing all white with the only exception being the black sash around his hakama. He kept his jacket top open, showing off the hollow hole that was peaking in from the left side, where his heart should have been. It also showcased the white bones that reached up from his collar bone to fasten around his neck. The white mask then topped over his head with a triangular shape protruding over his face just a bit. She couldn't make out any hair on his head, with the white mask acting like a helmet of sorts. However, it gave her clear image of the large eyes that were blinking down at her and the smirk that was coming along his face.

"Yuko," Natsu whispered as she pressed another step backwards and came to her body. "I know who ya were, but ya can't go fightin' jus' yet."

"I'm aware."

Natsu gave a subtle nod as she noticed the arrancer crossing his arms in wait for her. She glanced over at the woman who was cautiously making a trail over the surroundings. When Yuko got back to her, she gave her a smirk and then thrust of her chin. "Get goin' yeah? I'll be jus' fine."

"It'll take me time to find that boyo anyway."

"Good."

Natsu slowly jumped up to the air where the man was dropping his arms at the movements of the two women he was facing. She settled down slowly and tucked her arms into her pockets as she looked below her to see how Yuko was scampering away with a shoddy shunpo. As her eye trailed back to the opponent, she found that he was too enraptured with eyeing her to see where Yuko had gone off to. Natsu sunk down a bit into her stance with relief that her charge was going to get away cleanly as she squared off to him.

 _So long as I keep 'im off 'er._

As he was watching her, she spoke, "name's Natsu…. Ya look somethin' like tha enemy."

"Azureus Giel." He smirked as his brown eyes came up to her and stuck out a finger at her. "You also appear to be like a Shinigami."

Natsu blinked a few times and then pulled at her shihakusho top. "Wha' gave me away? I gotta learn so next time I can int'grate betta. Thinkin' of comin' ta live 'ere, ya know?"

"Making jokes at the sight of death, I see."

"Look like I was jokin'?" Natsu raised a brow at that and then gave him a shrug so that he could think whatever he wanted. "Why ya gotta be mean an' talk 'bout stuff like tha' anyway?"

Natsu jumped towards the right as the man suddenly was slashing down at her. He came up with a slice, and she flipped around skidding further back along the air. She peered up at him as he started to wring out the shoulder a bit, before coming at her head on.

"Che," Natsu let out as she slowly called forth her zanpakuto from its seal. "Sucks… gotta figh' a hothead like ya?"

Their two swords clattered against once another and the ring resounded through her ears as they slide and scratched together as they pushed away. Natsu stumbled back a few paces, while he glided away. Her arm twitched slightly from the pressure that he had put down, which was most similar to how aggressive Ikkaku was. She jerked it up so that she held it betwee her two hands and sunk down into her knees to help balance out the weight of another attack should it occur.

"It'll be easy to take out a weakling like you."

Natsu smirked at the statement before letting out a tired nod. She came back up from her stance not a moment later as she started angling her feet towards the right. She pointed her finger at him and spoke out, "Ya righ'… which is why - I'mma gonna get runnin'."

She heard his loud sqwuak as she took off with a shunpo. None of his barks about her being a coward were leashes enough to get her to stop her movements as she headed off to a more deserted area. The further away from the town, the less she'd get reeled into the other fights that were starting up in the different areas of Karakura. Additionally, with a hothead like him, it would diminish the amount of damage to the place and to the civilians if she moved further away from the center.

She sprung forward again as she flipped and then did a tumble roll through the air as he came slashing down at her. Her eyes narrowed at the fact that he was faster than her, and there was little chance that she would be able to outrun him again.

"Done running Shinigami?"

Her eyes gazed down slightly at the dispersed area she had found herself stumbling into. The buildings were bigger, and stood taller than the others she had seen during her tourist visit, but they were also more spread out than they had been previously. She dragged her eyes over more details like the lack of decoration in the area and on the buildings, and the sparsity of people which actually bordered on none the more she looked.

She tilted her head back up to him and stood up to her slouched height. "I guess, I jus' gotta figh' ya…. An'way ya can leave?"

"Absolutely not." His smirk ran a bit thicker as he spat out.

Natsu gave a slow nod and then placed her sword right in front of her ready to draw it apart. "Heat of the mid-summer sun, boiling lifeblood and vapor of disease. Sekhmet."


	19. Chapter 18

"Oh?" Natsu peaked at his voice, eyes having fallen towards the surrounding area to catalog, and looked at him as he raised his hand out to her slightly in a curious gesture. His sword lay sheathed for the meantime but his body was humming with that certain twitching rhythm of preparedness that she did often find in Ikkaku. "Are you not going to use both of them?"

She finished sliding the tanto into its sheath and then placed her hand down on to the hilt of her katana and adjusted it in front of her. The habits she had picked up from her training with her captain already coming into play. "Tha' thing ain't good fo' fightin'… Ya see tha size o' it?"

"I do suppose a small knife like that would be useless in fights."

Giel jumped first as he came with a shunpo to her back and took a swipe at her head. She ducked slightly and swung around towards her right in the crouch. Her right arm flicked out as she tried to cut him through his stomach but he jumped backwards before the katana could reach him. Then he pushed off from the air and came at her where the pared blows in an X and held together. Their faces came close together, framed by the cross of their swords, and noses almost brushing against one another.

"You're very weak, Shinigami," he spoke as he pushed down onto her arms in a half testing manner.

Natsu gritted her teeth slightly feeling that her own feet were slipping underneath her frame. "I's 'cause ya so eager… Can't ya be nice to a girl like me?"

He pushed down more; swords already shrieking as they skimmed against one another. Then with a small give of her knee, the tiniest of buckles, she was hurtling down to the ground where she connected with a painful thump. She coughed out a bit, the wind pressure releasing some sort of build up in her throat, as she stared up at the man that was coming down at her like a bullet train. Without a care she rolled over her shoulders to avoid the initial attack. However, with the intrusion of the ground as a new element, her balance faltered slightly as her sword arm came up to guard against the rubble that came up from his fall. Using the advantage, he sent a strong kick to her jaw while she wasn't focused on him and she was sent straight over into a few buildings.

That crash was not as easy to recover from as she blinked her eyes warily at the falling stones around her and to clear them of the watery liquid that had consumed them because of the dust. Her body lay prone underneath her own set of rock armor, a lot having fallen on her with her crash, giving her a few moments to catch her already shallow breathing. Natsu could already make out the tingle, like a long trail of pins and needles, making its way up from her heels up through her body under the pressure of the rocks around her. Thankfully, the smallest pebbles had landed on her arms, which she was able to throw from her body with a simple lift of the limb.

"Fuck." Natsu groaned out as she rolled a much larger piece of stone off her stomach.

Her eyes looked up at the arched ceiling and the stretching beams above her. She pressed her head backwards a bit more and took in the vast emptiness that was in the building she had broken through. There was nothing but the supporting beams in the place, and then a grated metal piece which was the actual entrance. It was closed straight down to the floor, to shut off the void from leaking out its isolation to the rest of the town.

 _This…. A warehouse o' fo' storage o' somethin'?_

 _It appears that it might be that way, Natsu._

 _Well, i's good tha' no humans are nearby… Looks deserted this place._

 _I agree. They won't get involved in your sloppy fight._

 _… Ya suck. Ain't ma fault I got blasted through tha wall._

 _No, but it is your fault that you let your guard down._

Natsu narrowed her eyes at the dark space before her which helped her to envision the lion that was prowling about in front of her and the slightly smirking woman that stood just behind it. She let out a groan as she rocked up so that she was sitting up and no longer imaging her zanpakuto spirits. A few pieces of the remaining rubble fell down into her lap as she did so, which she quickly flicked away or tossed, depending on the size. The one on top of her leg disappeared not seconds after clearing out her chest, though she could already feel the way that blood was pooling up against her skin and the faintness of a bruised ache that was swelling in her mind. At the very least, she hadn't broken anything yet.

Natsu stood up and patted down on her hakama which fluffed up a large cloud of dust. She did it a few more times until there was nothing but normal dust particles surrounding her. Then she went about cracking out her shoulders and her neck as she was stepping down from the small pile of rubble that she had been sleeping on.

"I was wondering if you were alive, Shinigami." Giel called calmly from a bit away, probably having noticed the sudden movements she had made. "You didn't move so I thought I might have won already."

"Nah, sorry ta disappoint."

Giel held up his sword again parallel to the ground as he rested in into the palm of his hands. He then used his fingers to beckon her closer. "Oh contraire… I'd be disappointed if my fight ended that early."

"Really..." Natsu raised an eyebrow before dumping her head dramatically towards the ground. "Why I gotta figh' someone like ya? Seriously ya the worst combo of traits, eager ta figh' an' blood thirsty."

"It is unfortunate that you received me as - What position did you say you were again?"

Natsu lifted her head up slightly as she settled down into another fighting stance. "I'mma twenthieth of division four."

"Twe-" Giel fell into fits of laughter that rose up high into the air like a hot air balloon as he arched backwards as he held onto his stomach. "No wonder this is so easy."

"Why wha's ya numba?"

"Twenty."

Natsu straightened out slightly as her mouth fell open in dumb shock. Her left arm came up tight to her body as her hand cuddled up close to her chin, while she poked out her forefinger at the still laughing figure who had choked out his responses. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the slip of information that had been given to her, and then enlarged them to keep playing her normal game. How in the world could she ever be offended by his laughter when she was used to the arrogant nature of just about everyone in Soul Society? It wasn't like she hadn't gotten used to be looked down on or being treated with pity by squads geared towards combat, which made up just about every squad minus the fourth and the twelfth.

"Tha' numba's tha same as me. Why ya laughin'?" She called as she spewed the words out from the corner of her mouth. "This some kinda plot ta make me think ya actually strong?

His laughter dwindled out as a large smirk came along his face, along with the steely shimmer in his eyes. "You fool… Arrancar under ten are ranked by birth not by power. Do you already need another taste of my strength?"

Natsu settled into her form as she saw the resolve come back up in his eyes. He was probably just over the level of Ikkaku in terms of combat strength, if she had to assume. Their swords clashed again as they swept at one another. They pushed up and then slashed away at one another, and then came back together. It was rough and tumble bought that Natsu hated, but there was no other way for her to figure out what was up the arrancar's sleeve.

Aizen had really gone to work in Hueco Mundo much faster than anticipated, undoubtedly information that this Hitsugaya squadron was meant to seek out. Knowing that there were already twenty arrancar that were probably all like the one in front of her iced her veins and she stifled the small moment of panic as she took another dive away from his on coming sword. And that was just in terms of physical strength. According to Kisuke and the limited knowledge in the Seireitei, arrancar were hollows that achieved Shinigami powers, which was why they looked more humanoid than the other hollows. However, she had seen no Shinigami powers other than the shunpo, the increased strength and durability, and the use of a sword. There were no signs of Shinigami powers like those of a shikai, though they didn't seem to even need that since they could keep up with her own power level very easily.

 _Why use a sword? Don't hollows jus' need brute strength…_

 _Natsu!_

Her eyes widened slightly as she peered up at the sword that was coming down at her again. Instead of sending her sword up to parry and she stumbled over the side before taking off into a run. Her breath came out ragged from her lips, and she could feel the harsh pound of her heart as it clattered against her chest. The blood was ringing in her eyes, a deep thrum from each pound of her heart, and slowly the red liquid was also slipping down from the cut in her chest that she had received just a bit earlier.

 _Thanks._

 _Of course, Natsu._

As he appeared in front of her she flipped back a few times and then thrust her arm out from up in the air. "Hadou 32: Okasen."

She heard the curse knowing then that Giel had gotten caught in the yellow blast and took off around the corner. Her eyes wandered around the small rectangle that made out the tiny clearing for another set of warehouses. Ducking down towards the shadows, she sagged a little into the building as she pieced together what she could of her breath. Her knees soon came close to her chest as she found herself crouching down slightly, deep breathes pushing against her thighs as she went about placing a small seal down on the ground. Her hand took in the solidness of the dirt and the small rocks beneath her hands as she swiveled her fingers around into a semi-circle. She could feel her body's temperature already rising, steam seeming to push up against her pores, as she tried to soak in the solidness that was the ground below her. A small glance at her sword told her that she had at least gotten a few deeper hits on Giel's body during their pares.

 _Ya so slow._

 _It's because you're horrible at using me._

Natsu twitched slightly at hearing the growl of the lion that came parading into her ears. The lion was much more disrespectful, which went along with its much more animalistic nature and the want to fight. That's why she hated to see her in this form, because the lion was erratic and too tiring to manage in most normal situations.

 _Shudup._

Her nose twitched as well from the small smell that she made out. Before she had a chance to investigate it completely she was dodging out of the way of another slash. As she tumbled over her head, she made out the way that the top part of the warehouse, which had been hit by a diagonal slash, was slowly tumbling off down to the side. Giel had throw her around easily - a feat made easy by her own body - but taking an entire building with a slash of a sword was new. Her eyes widened at the destructive damage of the arrancar's sword, which had seemingly increased since she had last fought him seconds ago.

She swiveled around on her knees as she caught Giel's blade. Her eyes roamed over the intensity of his smirk as he was looking down at her. His mouth was starting to form out words but she blocked them out as she focused a bit of reiatsu into the tip of her blade. She shifted so that one leg was coming up to create a square with the ground and she was only resting on one knee. This leveraged her even more space so that she could finally push from the ground into standing position, all while she hefted her blade so that his chest became wide open at the sudden use of force.

"Hadou 1: Sho." She called out with a small point of her left forefinger, and then as he was moving backwards she pressed all her fingers out until they were pointed at him. "Hadou 63: Raikouhou."

Her hand fell down slightly as she gathered up more breath. Her sword clattered a bit in her grip as she shifted it around, and brought it half way up so that she was prepared if Giel launched back at her. Her eyes squinted at the dust that was coming up, as he had been flown back into the building that he had destroyed, but she could make out no immediate shadows of him moving.

There was a shift and she brought her sword up again,tighter and more strictly in front of her, and then the rubble came down with a large crash. Giel stood up from the spot and then started walking out in a reversal of roles. She gritted her teeth down before she made out the small holes that the kido had left on his body just over the hollow hole on the left side of his chest. He had abandoned the jacket altogether and she could see the bulge in his muscles as he flexed just a bit to test how sensitive he was to the wounds.

"That was a very good hit, Shinigami." He touched at the blood slightly and then wiped at the entire spot careless, letting drops fall down to the ground. "I'll admit I didn't think you could make me bleed."

"Che - I got plenty of cuts on ya." Natsu proclaimed before flicking at the blood on her chest which had seeped out more than she had wanted. She placed the bloodied hand back on her hilt. "But ya also got me… So fair's fair."

"I suppose."

Her sword came up by her ear and over her shoulder as she tracked her way over the distance. She slide it through his waist as she moved beneath his own slash. As she brought the sword around, she let the blood slide off her sword and splatter along the ground off somewhere. Their swords clashed again as they met on the other side.

"For someone so weak you certainly have some power in you."

Natsu smirked slightly through the tearing of her own teeth as she tried to keep up with his power. Her feet were digging backwards as he pushed up against her a bit more. Buckling her knees just a bit she jumped up and while she was flipping over him, she stretched her sword down getting a gash into his shoulder. She jumped again putting more distance between them as he ignored his own pain and turned with her to try and hit her along the back.

She turned swiftly around and then two began to circle each other from that distance. Her arms quavered from having to go at the force that she was using, which was untrained and her arm muscles were having a very hard time keeping up with. The pick in her own breathing and the racket of her heart helped give her a few moments to do a minor analysis. Her body wasn't at the point where smoke was coming off, but she knew that her shihakusho was quickly becoming damp at the heat that she was emitting. There was also a large tension down her arms, but the worst was coming from her stomach. Natsu narrowed her eyes to that and tried to get her flaring reiryoku under wraps as she took another side step to counter Giel's.

 _Always been a problem, tha'._

 _Get through this fight and then fix it._

 _…. Ya suck, ya know?_

Her eyes tore back to the seen as she heard the call from the arrancar in front of her. "I'm growing a bit bored, Shinigami."

"Whatta ya want me ta do 'bout tha'?" Natsu raised an eyebrow and shrugged her shoulders as best she could. "I ain't really 'ere ta entertain ya."

"No, I suppose you're not…. Well, then I'll just finish this now."

"Oh? How ya goin' ta do tha'?"

Giel brought his sword slightly up and then gave it a long lick from hilt to tip, where it scratched just a little bit on his tongue. Natsu shifted again and her eyes grew wide and the sudden amount of reiatsu that was picking up from around him. She clenched down her entire body then and drew her sword closer to her chest, so that the back-end was resting over her own heart.

"Like this," Giel shouted out. "Escupe, rana."

The pipe burst and Natsu ran her eyes over the new form that the arrancar took on. His released state, she supposed, as her eyes took on the more hollowfied version of the person she had been fighting before. There wasn't too much difference in his appearance, except for his hands. Instead of fingers, they became long, tubular figures that were dark blue in color. The color extended up along his arms until where his shoulders were. He still remained a human, complete with the two legs and the long stretch of his torso. However, there was black spotting along his stomach and abdominal area.

"Are you surprised, shinigami?"

Natsu smirked slightly and then shook her head. "I though' ya migh' 'ave been hidin' somethin'. Good villians always do tha', ya know?"

"Hm~" Giel wandered a bit closer as he twitched his fingers. "I'm surprised you have a brain under there… Then again you are a pretty cautious fighter."

"Helps bein' weak an' all…. Gotta do somethin' ta see tha sun 'gain." She huffed out as she brought her sword out just a bit more in front of her.

Natsu jerked off the side at the sudden projectile that was shot at her. Then she went into a series of flash-steps as she did her best to maneuver around whatever he was flinging her way. She made her way closer to him as she did so, until she was by his chest and nailing a shallow upper cut through his chest. His fist came out and she ducked under it, only to get a foot right into her sternum.

She flew all the way back, using her sword to edge into the ground as the only leverage to stop her flying momentum. Her left hand slowly came up to her sternum and made out the cracks that were formed there as she pressed just lightly down onto it.

 _Increase in strength too? Fuck._

 _Will you finally use me, Natsu?_

There was a small drum in her veins and Natsu look down at the radiating sword that seemed to quiver as it stuck up from the ground. There was a thin mist that was coming off of it, and she couldn't help but let out a small sigh. Her eyes returned to the opponent who was walking down the aisle towards her, in a small meander as he smelt the roses.

 _Yah, finally 'wake then?_

 _You're kidding… I've been up for a long time._

 _…. Don't lie ta me ya dumb thing._

 _I'm not lying!_

 _Shudup!_

Natsu gripped up her sword into her right hand and then yanked it from the ground as she held it up. The two of them charged at each other again, and they traded blow after blow. Quickly Natsu realized that she could still cut into the arrancar's arms when he kept dodging all those attacks that brought her sword edge close to the now blue limbs. She got in a long gash, cutting down vertically down his left arm before she found herself being flung back with a good punch to the stomach.

She tumbled as she grappled with the air for her own leverage, but the momentum had her rolling over her head several times. She knew that she splattered up her own blood as she went, but she could barely recollect anything other than how the rocks and the grains of dust felt along her skin as she rolled and rolled.

She couldn't tell how many twists she did before she finally stopped; in the half way point between two positions, no less. She flung herself forward so that she could remain upright on her bum instead of falling back along the ground. She let out a long series of grumbles from the heaving breaths leaving her lips as her stomach wrenched and protested at the sudden pain. Even though her back was to the enemy, she couldn't help but need the extra moment to figure out if she hadn't coughed up her organs as she scavenged around to figure out where she had landed.

Her head titled back slightly as she let out another cough, a light gray puff leaving her lips, which irritated her chest even more, instead of alleviating it. Not seconds later she found her fingers tightening around the hilt of her sword that she had somehow dragged with her through the long ride backwards. Her eyes strained as she kept them from fluttering and she breathed deeply under the new pressures from her chest, and different prickles running all around her from the pain and from her own reiryoku. A strong flame was finally brewing down in her, but it was burning away all her blood and leaving nothing but ash and smoke in its wake.

Her head slowly fell forward and she rocked forward until she was on her knees. She nodded just a bit more and her head suddenly crashed onto something. A chill swept through her instantly as she turned her eyes up. There was nothing before her eyes at all. It was only an empty space, and yet it had her heart plummeting suddenly and the smoke being blown away with a sudden frozen wind. Goosebumps lifted in her skin, needles poking her awake into a hyperactive state as she took in the blank stretch of warehouses in front of her.

However, slowly her hand came out even because her gut was seething under the ghostly presence in front of her. Her eyes stuck to the long needles that were those ligaments as they dipped into the air just ahead of her and came to a stop against the invisible wall. They slid up slowly along the smooth surface and then her palm was pressed up against a force that radiated out spiritual energy. It was a strong spiritual energy too from how she was able to lift her hand away from what was an entity of quicksand for her fingers. Then she was just barely touching down on it again and the static energy from it collected against her palm.

She had once lifted her hand up to something this warm and familiar. Her own fingers had been nothing more than stubs then, and she had gazed up towards the sun that was walking by her in their small drifting walk. She leeched onto the long fingers that dangling out by the person's side for once, and wouldn't let go for all the treats in the world. His own fingers had circled just slightly around her own hand. Where he could hold her in maybe two fingers, she needed her whole hand to capture just one of those gold fingers for her own. Even then it was never enough. Not until she was swept up into his arm and she clung down onto his shihakusho. She would press her nose right into the cradle of his neck and his jawline, and she feel all his heat along her body. Her arms would wrap along his neck, and the weight of his hair would push her small arm closer to him. She'd snuggle in anyway, sometimes flicking out to see if she could move the heavy mass, and when she couldn't she'd tug on it.

The gold strands that held her attention so much only changed slightly when her eyes turned over to the youthful version of Ayake Ichiyuko. She looked healthy and toned. There was a warm flush to her skin even though she was pale. Her obsidian eyes were sparkling and she spoke avidly about something with a gesture from her strong arms every now and again.

Natsu's own eyes had strayed back over to the glinting teeth by her face and then she was tucking away into the man's protective crook. It was only then that she felt the smallest tickles of his long fingers along her back, and how they combed up and down. They'd reach up and shift her own hair, and then come back down and play along her back as her arms grew tighter around the black robes that he wore.

She felt that small tingle of reiatsu - an electric shock dragging her from her memories - as her hand pressed down a bit harder onto what she came to recognize as a kido barrier. Her mouth immediately clenched up and she felt her heart tear away from her chest and go off towards the wall in front of her. Her lips trembled slightly as she found herself looking at the empty space before her that her eyes were avidly searching through. It only ended as she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and then stared at the one spot just ahead of her.

She fell a bit into her seat, which was more of a splayed kneel with her resting on her calves, and her mouth came open a bit. Her eyes felt tight in her own head as the reiatsu trickled out just a bit more and she felt the small cuddle and toying with her own fingers. Her mouth screwed up and she dragged in a deep breath that flushed away the ice and drowned her. As her breath become just that much harder to take in she closed her entire body off. Her eyes closed up and then she was letting her hand fall down between her two thighs.

She slowly opened them up again and through the small crack in her voice she spoke out, "Boke." She pressed up a closed fist to her fist and then knocked it a few times against her forehead a few times. "Boke. Boke."

As her whole hand slide over her face she dragged along her new mask where a new smirk dawned and there was her normal half-lidded expression. When she had lost the first mask, she had no idea. She supposed it didn't matter at all, since the shock had woken up a bit more pleasure in her own lion. It would carry her through to the end of the fight.

"I'mma surprised," she spoke as she turned away from the barrier and moved to face the arrancar. "Ya didn't attack me jus' now."

"I thought you were dying from that last blow."

Natsu let out a small chuckle and swung her sword down to the right of her as she smirked up at him. "Well… Shall we continue then?"

"Suddenly so eager to die, Shinigami?" Giel put out as he shifted deeper into a stance.

"Well, I jus' 'membered somethin' important." She snickered at the curious raise of the man's eyebrow. She pointed her left forefinger at him as she twittered, "the walls got eyes ya know?"

"Then they'll see you lose."

"Boke… I'm tha nice one." Natsu moved her forefinger slightly as she started to spell out a small kanji. "Guess, I can't 'elp bein' a bit excited too."

She thrust her hand onto the kanji, and it shot forward. A blood red slates shattered through the air and came down right by her hand so that she could press onto it. With a wrench of her hand she tugged at the one end by her left until it was surrounding the area completely in that red film, and coming full circle to connect to the other end.

"What is this?" Giel asked as he turned his head around to look at the slowly filling capsule that was forming around him.

Natsu tipped her sword onto her shoulder and went through red wall. The bottom was fully closed up as she continued her way up to the arrancar who was still watching all the red slates fully surrounded the two of them.

"This is ma technique. Don't really know how to use it properly yet, but it boxes people in ta tha space," Natsu spoke out as she gestured all around at the square that had formed.

"No more running then?"

Natsu let a wide smirk come along her face at the innocent question. "Nope… Consider this ya coffin. – 'Cause ya know, I jus' can't 'ave ya makin' a mess anymo'."


	20. Chapter 19

Fighting always causes a disruption in time. Due to the intensity of the focus a person needed to exude, there could only be an awareness for the bodies that were moving about. In that small vacuum where time no longer existed, it was only cold bloodshed; the slice of sword against skin, the harsh breaths, and the curses whispered between two opponents as they went head first at one another. If there had been other people then they'd have to be spatially aware, but within the locked confines of the kido seal and barrier, there was no way out for them other than in the dance of death.

It could have been seconds, minutes, or even hours – though doubtful -, as the fight raged between the two of them. Natsu grunted slightly as she flipped away from the arm that swung out towards her. It was only in the small whistle in the air, a noise that she had become somewhat accustomed too, that she maneuvered her head around to avoid the projectiles that her opponent seemed to throw. In the stumble of her steps as she finally reached the ground - a skidding sort of motion that had her propelling more dirt up than slowly down her momentum - she missed the spit that was flung at her.

She made out the smell first which was something a bit sweet, with just a bit of tang like a citrus fruit. Then she made out the smell of her own burning flesh and she looked down to her arm where the sleeve of her shihakusho was slipping away. It only took a few moments before whatever the liquid had been was seizing to her skin, as the black eroded to white and then to her own paleness. Slowly the skin began peeling off, and it was disintegrating away until she could make out the splutter of her blood as it began to leak over onto her arm and lather it up in both a cream and a foamy substance. The smallest leak of blood down her arm was only ignored by the sharp army of bullet ants that were crawling through her skin, etching through the muscle and tendons of her bicep.

"That's my ability." Giel called over as she deflected another hit from the unidentified liquid he had carelessly tossed toward her in her distraction. "Acid… It'll erode to the bone and you'll lose your arm."

Natsu gritted her teeth and stuck her hilt into her mouth, unleashing an completely necessary grind along the fabric, whilst swinging her hand around to her back. Within seconds, she had the tanto shoved through her bicep; a clean stab which was just above where the spit had landed on her arm. The only registry of the pain was her ever grinding teeth on the ribbons in her hilt, which wasn't from the tanto plunging through her skin but from the erosion on her arm which was like someone poking millions of needles to onto her arm and then dragging them up slowly. It was made worse by the small insipid strangled thought that whoever was poking her didn't have the slightest decency to heat the needle, undoubtedly leading to some sort of horrible infection.

"What is that?"

Natsu grunted slightly around the hilt of her sword as she found the red film overlapping her body. There was a small suction and she dangled her right arm down between her legs, shifting her body over so that her left was facing her opponent and her right arm was now far out of his reach. The heat doubled over what was already exuding from her body but she could feel the pull where it was activating against the acid that was on her arm.

 _I'll 'ave ta end this soon… Tha heat's gettin' ta me._

 _Just use me!_

 _Ya not awake 'nough ya liar!_ Natsu rattled her sword a bit as she picked it from her mouth; an awkward movement for her wrist as she had grabbed it with her left hand. _How can I use ya when ya sleepin', huh?_

The heat that had slowly been built up in the fight already had her wanting to shed at her top. Now with the added layer of her tanto's healing ability, she'd quickly become delirious with the added heat. Natsu wondered why she simply hadn't stripped when several beads of sweat slipped, creating an echo of an itch, down her cheeks, but the smallest cut over to where she vaguely remembered the warehouse being had her balking.

"Are you trying to save your arm?" Giel called her back to the fight as she adjusted her stance with the sword in her left hand. "I'm not sure what that dagger will do but with your dominant hand out of use you'll die before -"

"Boke." Natsu nudged out as she came into a solid position, whispering only a tiny thanks to her captain who had reinforced her practice on her left side. "Ya don't know who ya talkin' to."

They jumped forward again, Giel just moments after her as he responded. She got a good slash into his chest before she landed a kick right on the spot. She used it to leverage off him but also to thrust him backwards before he could touch her with his fist. He went tumbling back and hit up against her wall as she was stepping foot back onto the ground, with her sword already raised.

He grumbled as he got up and patted at the spot before looking at her. "You're ambidextrious."

"I said I'mma from tha fourth division… Means I'mma heala primarily." Natsu slashed down her sword to clear it of the blood and then moved it to gesture at her arm. "I can use both ma hands 'cause o' tha'."

"Then I guess I should praise you for being able to keep up with me even though you are just a healer as you say."

Natsu raised her brow slightly at his condescending tone and let out a sigh, before realigning her sword to keep up with his new position. There was a strong pulse from her sword and she looked at it slightly as the smoke billowed from it when it finally stopped quivering beneath her grip. She blew out her next breath from between her teeth and then felt a smirk curling around her lips. It had been a bit since she had smirked, leaving the rest of the fight to be dealt with an all serious look as she was trying to keep up with his strength. She had broken a fair few ribs and she could feel the way that the blood was slipping between not just down her chest from that first deep blow, but her temple and the small gash at her waist. Not to mention the numerous amounts of bruises and other scratches that had come along with being pushed about within her space. The swollen jarred sensation from her knee wasn't helping with any of her movement either but, at the very least, it was forgettable when she was sucked all the way into the fight.

 _Finally… Ya really suck ya know._

 _I've been here waiting for you, stupid._

 _…. Don't call me stupid, moron._

 _Get cutting._

Her sword angled by her hip as she set off on a charge over to the arrancar who had fallen into step quickly. She slashed up from her hip, and she felt the way that the sword cut through him. It went in deep, and his skin created two walls around her sword. She pushed from the ground and in her jump was able to drag her sword through the new cavern in his chest, like a card through two fingers. She swept around and gave him a good knock to his head which sent him over to the other side, opposite to the warehouses.

He rolled slightly but was immediately back on his feet as he used his hand to slide around. He hunkered over his own knees as he drew in long breathes to fill up his chest. His hand came up and pressed down on the cut before looking up at her from that hunched position. His tone was breathy, but still carried that last ounce of strength as he spoke, "is that it?"

"It should star' righ' 'bout now," Natsu calmly put out as she slashed her sword to clean it of the blood again.

"What?"

Natsu smirked slightly and the dragged a finger over her chest to replicate where she had cut him. "It burnin' yet?"

His body seized slightly in that very instant and Natsu made out the drop in his knees as he was brought just that much closer to the ground. She had to marvel at his strength as he stayed somewhat upright under his own grunts and rages. He let out a few more shallow breathes before he was coughing out blood onto the ground. Natsu for sure knew that he was staring wide eyed at the sight of the blood that he suddenly manifested, trying to get used to the new caverns along his chest with the way that he appeared to be slack jawed from the pain.

He covered the area as he stumbled to right himself; trying to become more erect as his head flung towards her. Words came out biting, grinding long his teeth, as he asked, "what is this?"

"I's tha power of ma katana."

"I thought you said you were a healer."

"Tha's why ya a boke," Natsu threw out as she pointed a finger at him with a small stomp of her foot. "Ya thinkin' one dimensionally… Why would a heala be on tha battlefield? Why a heala 'ave a katana an' know 'ow ta figh' ta give ya a problem? - Ya didn't think it was strange, jus' a little bit… tha' I ain't been havin' real problems fightin' ya?"

There was another groan which covered up anything that Giel was going to say as he lost all ability to speak but not to vocalize his agony. Her eyes zoned in on the extra three cuts that were finally finished replicating along his chest. She nodded slightly as she saw the new blood start to pour over and his knees finally knocked down as he sunk slightly.

"Listen 'cause I'll explain it nice an' slow so ya can understand," Natsu paraded out as she found his black eyes still on her. "I got two spirits. One fo' healin', one fo' fightin'… But they work on a similar basis, which is somethin' I call 'heat'."

"Heat?"

Natsu nodded slightly and tipped her sword over her shoulder by way of showing him again the different instruments she was using. She sighed a bit and then used her forefinger to scratch at her cheek while she went off to the side to get away from the gore. Her voice rang clear as day no matter which was she turned her eyes, anyway.

"Basically… Ma katana, here, uses heat ta replicate the cuts it makes three times ova. –- Ya know... Like a lion's claw... Somewhat." Natsu shook the sword slightly and cut her eyes back over to the arrancar. "Ma tanto uses heat ta heal wounds… Tha's how it works."

"Why didn't you just use that in the first place," Giel let out an irritated question as he stumbled back onto his feet.

"Tha's 'cause ma zanpakuto don't wake up 'til there's lo's o' blood… Tha mo' blood, tha stronga tha heat. Tha stronger tha heat, tha more effective tha cut. If tha' heat's too low than ya can't get four cuts."

Natsu snorted slightly and then holstered the sword back into its sheath to the uproar in her head from the lion. Giel cried out slightly as he came up to a shaky position on his feet, beckoning the fight to continue even though he was about to tilt over. Her eyes narrowed slightly and there was a pander in her head from the lion to let it back out to get right at the heart. She could practically make out the image of it has the lioness tore through sand dunes, as if they were imaginary figures of Natsu herself. Thankfully, while Shinigami and zanpakuto are connected they don't pass along the same feeling empathically; it would cause a lot more problems otherwise.

She had to let out a huff at the two people's insistence: Giel for wanting to continue the fight in such a horrible manner, and Sekhmet for not calming down. The latter was a bit more expected seeing as once the blood-lust started, it took a very long before the lion was finally settling back into that more peaceful state which was still terrible according to Natsu. Because everything about the lion was slow, except for its mouth; it took forever to wake up, and then took forever to relax again.

"Quit yabberin'." Natsu called out at Giel's squirming grunts, though it could have also been to Sekh. Natsu wasn't completely sure at this point who she was talking to either. "I'm gonna end ya, don't ask fo' it so much."

"You stupid Shinigami, do you honestly believe I—"

"Boke," Natsu cut off as she put her finger into her ear, and tilted her head off to the side. "Can't ya tell? Ma injuries already healin', and ya on death's door."

Giel thrust an arm out and she chaotically dove at the blast of reishi that was hurtling her. On the ground she threw her head over at the path the reishi had gone to see that it had been stopped by her wall. She could make out the smallest crack; a tiny river streaming through the red wall. Her eyes narrowed at the very obvious sign that her reiatsu was finally draining out to its last dregs, which brought her consciousness a bit too close to how her reiryoku was feeling. The fraying as she felt it pushing up against her skin came like bolts of lightening against her now too aware brain and her own poison that was slipping through her veins to fry her from the inside out screamed a tune straight into her now very open ears.

She shook her head slightly and then collected up from the ground so that she came to her slouching height. "I tol' ya… I'mma gonna end ya." Her hand slowly raised up, and she draped her right arm to loosely clutch onto her left forearm to catch any rebound. "Blaze of heat in the night. 13 torches a lit for the masses. Drags in the night and hits upon the roof. Demons hands that capture and enrapture, filling voids and collateral. Hadou 77: Two Handed Demon Fire."

The hadou spell let out a large flame from the palm of her hand. The one split into two and once upon Giel, they came around the two sides and sunk around the sides to go through his ribcage. Burning through, Natsu watched as they slowly connected back together at the center of his chest. It fizzled for just a moment and then let out an explosion which had her moving her arm up to protect her face against the flying residue.

When her eyes blinked back open she looked over to the spot where he had been. There was nothing but a deep trench that had a star of dark angles and soot coming from thirteen different points. There was a thin smoke coming up from where his body was, coming from deep within the earth to swirl up into the air and then spread out again as it wavered along the top of the roof.

Natsu let out a small groan and then sunk down onto her knees. The red box started with a crack that she heard and as if the weakness of the barrier was her own body a shiver ran through her as she imagined the way the river was slowly running wild and overflowing. Then the crack gained its own cataracts until there were sharp cracks, followed by the sound of a shattering light bulb, from the imploding material. Around her, her cage shattered into shards in a slow cascade; a soft rain of red, flickering lights, covering her view as she stared up towards the unveiled sky. As her eyes fell down, her body drifting with her sight, the pieces disintegrated back into the atmosphere before they could even reach the ground, whilst she was collapsed against the cold ground; knees up and somehow so was her torso.

She panted out heavy bits of smoke from her lungs as she tried to cool off her body. Her fingers quaked as they slowly reached up. They slipped just slightly before they weakly clasped at her tanto and then drew it out slowly with only a tiny squelch as her blood popped with it. The blade fell down with a clatter by her side and her arm flopped back down to her side, while she nestled just a bit more into the dirt, her tailbone alerting her to the pressure that she was putting it on her. But she could care less as she dug a bit deeper and sunk into her hands just a bit more to rest.

 _And you said you were the nice one, Natsu?_

 _… Huh?_

 _You obliterated him._

 _Didn't cha know… I'mma liar._

Natsu threw out the rest of the buzz from her zanpakuto as her head tilted back to look up at the sky. She was surprised that she hadn't fallen over with how far she was leaning backwards on her own bum, with even her feet drifting across the ground as she was slanted backwards. She exhaled slowly, still seeing the black smog leaving her lips. She felt a nice cool breeze come and settle over her as the sweat started to dry along her skin, as she continued to breath out as much heat as possible.

She tossed forward suddenly until her head was knocking against the ground. The move made her head waver and her eyes became bleary as she couldn't focus on the glazed view before her. Her lips dragged against the ground as she whimpered out and grasped for something that would help to stabilize her through the process. Her stomach pulsed out her reiryoku and she felt the new blaze starting up again which only had her groaning again. It started there in her stomach, and spiraled out with spikes coming up her entire body. Then those spikes could go back into her stomach only to repeat the process all over again. Her body quivered under the painful pressure when it was at the highest point, and her head swerved when it was at the lowest points as she tried to breath through the pain and tried to grapple with reality.

It was only when she felt drool coming along her own cheeks as she was scratching her forehead back and forth along the ground to get rid of the sweat that she remembered what exactly she had to do. She jammed her fist up, but it was nothing more than a feather coming along her own skin. Her knees rocked forward shakily as her forehead pressed down more, and she gave another punch which pumped her back into an arch.

She fell over in disgraceful flop on her side and heaved up air again, choking on the black smog that was still retained in her body. She stared out at her hand which was just a small curl in her fingers, and she made out the dirt under her nails as her vision narrowed down on it. The rest became just darkness before she realized that she was confusing it with the black gunk that always fell out during her healing and she saw the specks of dried blood along her fingers as well.

She slowly angled her fingers in, and then let out a choking cough that somehow brought her lungs back to life. Her frame rattled and she hunched her head down to the ground as she let out more coughs. It only made it worse as the splutter brought up dust from the ground which got caught in her throat and made the cough worse. But tucking away into the shadows and curling in on herself was the only comfortable position she knew from her bad habits.

She could make out the trail of hands along her back and the slow pat. Her lips trembled slightly and she let out a gruff sob just under her breath. The tears slickened down just beneath her eyes, but they dropped straight to the ground and it soothed the dust. She became free to bring in just the smell of dirt and ware beneath her. She shuddered in one more breath and let out a long sigh.

She turned over and found the space empty. It shouldn't have surprised her. She had figured it out a long time ago that her brain filled in spaces where broken promises lay. Cold reminders of touches of warmth and the heat of the sun along her cheeks, or golden ribbons of hair running through her fingers were only small features of her imagination when she became delirious. Or so she told herself, even as her zanpakuto told a different story. She sat up slowly, feeling the tugs at her stomach muscles instantly and bite down at the sensations. Her eyes narrowed and she yanked forward through the pain, until she was more upright.

"Sealed, huh?" she whispered out to herself as she looked over to found her zanpakuto already sheathed and in its form.

Natsu stumbled up onto her feet, slumping down on her hands and knees only moments later by her sword. She stood it upright and then with the palm of her hand made the motion as if she was smashing it into the ground from the hilt down. It faded away into the sun seal on her wrist as she went down, in a painful burn because of her low reiatu. Her eyes slowly fell over to where she knew the barrier to be as she blew on her tattoo until it settled.

Her eyes closed and she squeezed them tight until it gave her stars in her vision and the flash of color. She opened them and the barrier disappeared from her vision, and let her plant down a good slack expression. Then she got back onto her feet as she slowly trudged away from the scene of the fight, with her hands falling down into her pockets and a still small trail of smoke from her heated body.

* * *

 **A/N: Here's another chapter! End of a tough fight for our protagonist and not just physically (hint, hint). And some more information about Natsu's zanpakuto is revealed.**

 **Thank you** **xXFallenSakuraXx52 for your review. You had me wondering if we may be on the same wave length. Made me super excited to show all of you what's in store for dear, old Natsu... Well, she certainly not that old but she's kind of a grumpy, old lady in spirit. Sort of... Not really.**

 **I'd just like to remind readers that I did take creative licences. I did as much research as possible but a lot of the kido is made up.**

 **Comment, review, question, pm, whatever you want! Even if it's just to say 'hi'.**


	21. Chapter 20

When she had regrouped with the rest of the team, Hitsugaya was immediately up in her face about getting separated from the ex-prisoner who she was tasked to keep an eye on. Natsu only nodded slightly, eyes swiveled off to the side whilst he spat in her face, and gave a loud yawn during his lecture just about once in his lecture, which resulted in a very high velocity twitching in his eye. Rangiku was somewhat snickering in the back due to her looming height, immaturely masking her giggles with her hand with her eyes glistening with unshed tears. The only good information that she had received throughout the barrage of words was that Yuko was already back in Soul Society. Though the ex-convict hadn't directly disobeyed any commands since Natsu commandeered all the blame with her negligence of her own orders, Yuko's time had worn through.

Abarai had then told her about the rest of the battles that had taken place. He made a comment about how Yuko had been found near Ichigo's fight and there was a small altercation between them. Natsu nodded faintly to that, but she responded in kind with a small mock towards the orange haired boy that was nowhere to be seen to defend himself. Abarai had only rolled his eyes slightly at that and then left the group of four to head over towards the Urahara Shoten.

Natsu had then taken off towards the river. Although she had been offered to bunk with both Orihime and Rangiku, she had refused the offer with a short drone of 'no'. She only had to breath out a bit more smog for them to believe that she wasn't in a good enough condition to be staying in someone else's house without setting off the smoke alarm; a curious thing that Orihime had to describe to the group. This set off the explanation that she couldn't, in fact, set anything else on fire. However, the residual heat would have made everything very uncomfortable. Particularly for Hitsugaya who was already edging away from her once he noticed the tumbles of warmth she emitted.

There was no where more comfortable that night than a small patch of grass by the river side. The area was open enough and had a bit of slant that the air seemed to collect there and tunnel through much more easily than anywhere else. It also helped that the breeze coming off from the water made everything a bit colder around her.

She only woke up when her body gave a very sharp start, a rude awakening for her stiffened muscles and for her head, at a car blaring out a very obnoxious beep. When her eyes had fluttered open she came upon the sun high in the sky and the cars running past at their speed for the day. There was a rustle through the air, as everything was in constant motion with the mid-morning sun and the need to push through their work.

The sleep had done her well as had the healing during the fight, although it had been minimal because she could only stretch the limits of her zanpakuto's abilities so far. However, she still spent a good time in what was left of the early afternoon healing up the rest of the aches in her body, and getting rid of last remaining bits of the battle that were sunk into her skin. Then once she had put away her zanpakuto, she headed off into the streets.

It was an exceptionally slow day for her. She could feel the ache still down in her bones, and the exhaustion had wrapped her up tight in bandages that prevented more fluid movements. Her feet dragged slowly behind her as she led with her chest down the streets of Karakura Town. Her arms fell limp down only stopping from sliding out of her shoulder blades due to the seams of her pockets that she had stuffed her hands into. Her head pounded slightly with each tap of her toes as she tried to push off again to make another step, her knees buckling ever so slightly to more she went along.

Her stomach let out a loud roar that had her looking down at it with an increasing frown. She hadn't had a way of getting any sustenance while in the form which was the only down side to not getting gigai; particularly because the others on the team were either too lazy to get her food, too busy, or not overly concerned about her welfare. As Ikkaku would put it, if she couldn't take care of herself than why should he bother to. It had paid off to keep out of a gigai because then she wasn't forced to attend school or interact with humans, major nuisances to her heavy sleep schedule, but after the fight she needed both food and water more than anything. She had probably sweat out more than all of her water, and was running on the acid of built up muscular tension.

She scratched at her head slightly as she pondered on the idea of what to do. Even her thoughts were running at the pace that a sloth moves. It didn't help that those few thoughts she seemed to stumble upon were completely frayed and they moved about diagonally and criss-crossed along her brain. She couldn't pin point a solid process or a thought to help her formulate a sort of plan.

Her eyes caught onto the figure of a walking boy and she flew straight over to him without any single thought when she recognized the orange hair. Her arm fell down onto his shoulder and he dunked down under her weight as she dropped down next to him. There was a large grunt and then he was flinging himself up as he looked at the intruder to his personal space, as she slumped back into her original form.

"Yo, Ichi."

"Natsu?" He looked around slightly and then pushed her along in front of him until they ducked into a small alley way. "Renji mentioned that you were here but I didn't see you."

"I'mma stuck in this form fo' tha 'hole time… An' i's too much work ta explain everythin' ta ya so I left it ta tha res' o' em."

Ichigo only gave a grunt back and she took in the soggy brown that his eyes had become. Though he looked smart with his clothes on, it did nothing to hide the obvious thinness of his aura. His normal scowl seemed to have been dug extra deep today and there was an edge along his shoulders that permeated out a wall so that people wouldn't dare cross with him. It also didn't help that he was wearing a glare along his eyes, which lacked their usual bite. Instead those eyes were imbued with a form of 'snap over and bark' at whoever was intruding into his thinking space; a very large bubble from what Natsu could identify. His thoughts seemed to echo out from his head loudly, so much that it gave her a headache to look at him. The faint murmurs of the energy in the air seemed to be taunting him as much as it was giving her heart a horribly tight hug, and they fell into his thoughts and swirled with them. It grew louder and louder as they stood in the silence that was on the brink of being broken.

She narrowed her eyes and teetered right over the fine edge that had been built up. Plunging her fist straight into his gut, Ichigo let out a grunt as he bent over her forearm from the impact. He backed up instantly and ground out, "what the hell, Natsu?"

"Wha'?" She picked her arm up and picked at her ear as she stared down at his form from the corner of her eye. "Ya look pathetic."

"So you hit me?"

Natsu slapped at his incoming arm. "I'mma hungry. Get me some food."

"Wh-"

"I ain't askin' Ichigo."

He blinked several times and she saw the stunned slackness of his jaw. He slowly pulled up and fixed up his clothes. He kept his eyes on her the whole time. "I do have somewhere to be."

"Ya owe me a meal, an' I'mma tellin' ya ta dish out now." Natsu waved her hand slightly as she blew away at his excuse before hunkering back down into her slouch and raising a small eyebrow.

He scowled immediately but then thrust his head. She followed him around the bend and up the street. With him just up ahead she could see the invisible steam rolling off of him now, and the cold curses and groans that he was pilfering out as he said everything unthinkable about Shinigami. Normally she would have proudly risen her chest at such offerings, a snickering sneer along her lips, but today she was just too tired and hungry. He stopped momentarily into a store before coming back out with a bag, which she could see was filled up with food. Before he could shove the bag into her chest and walk away again, she was moving off with him now following her lead.

They settled down on a small bench in a park. The bag of food was settled between them as she rummaged through it whilst she faced the boy with her straddling the bench in his direction. Her eyes slowly flickered over to him and the lounge that he had gotten into with his two arms over the back of the bench and his legs out wide with that scowl which detracted from the overall cool look. Or perhaps it added to it, with his whole 'untouchable' appearance radiating off of him like it had for the past ten minutes as they moved around the town.

She pushed up a bottle to his cheek which instantly had he slinking off. She smirked slightly at his flabbergasted exclamation at the cold, and held the object out to him. "Open it."

"Do all Shinigami not know anything about the human world?" Ichigo jammed at as he snapped the lid off the bottle and handed it back over to her. "What do you-"

"Jus' a sec Ichi… I got inta a figh' yest'day an' I really need tha food."

Ichigo blinked a few times at her as if just taking in her appearance just then and then slouched back down again. She gulped down the entire bottle in no more than three swallows and then threw it back into the bag. Her hands grabbed a hold to the packaged items and she tore through them without chewing or really seeing what they tasted like at all. She only made a small scan of the package as she chewed to help imagine the flavor that she was eating, but she was swallowing too quick to really capture what any words meant for the flavors that were leaving her mouth. By the end of it all she knew was that the food had very strong flavoring, and that the packaging was really bright. That, and the aftertaste of said products wasn't horrible.

There was a huff of laughter in front of her and she stared at Ichigo who was watching with fascination at the moment. He scratched lightly at his head and then gave her something of a sad smile. "Tough fight?"

"They all were." Natsu pointed out and rested one arm onto the back of the bench so that she could then prop her head up with her hand. "Heard ya met tha crazy lady."

"Who the fuck was she?"

"No matta." Natsu waved off again and Ichigo didn't appear to be too upset by that as he turned back over to the park. "Also heard ya lost ya figh'."

There was a small pause on his breath before he whispered, "I did."

Natsu nodded slightly and shifted her head around so that she was also looking out into the park. It was just a clearing of grass, with a few trees planted around to give shade to some of the benches. Ichigo had chosen correctly and had gotten one of the ones that was in the sun. It wasn't directly in their line of vision, so there was no need to squint as they looked out, but it gave a brightness to the overall atmosphere that Natsu couldn't be bothered to bring about and Ichigo was too worn in his own soul to joke around anymore.

She let out another puff of air and moved back over to the narrowed eyes of the boy next to her. "Ya know, I was actually gonna ta go look fo' ya. So this works out."

"Yeah?" Ichigo's voice called as he refused to turn his head at the remembrance of his shame to the Shinigami name. "What for?"

"Ta talk ta ya 'bout ya hollow."

Ichigo flung himself forward and rested onto his thighs as he cradled his face into his hands. "Why does everyone seem to know about this? You, Rukia, Urahara-san… Even Renji seems to have an idea about it. - That crazy lady too. She seemed to know something."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at the proclamation, but more importantly at his acknowledgement to Yuko. Ichigo was pretty dense, so whatever she had said to him must have thrown him through a loop. From the bags under the boy's eyes she wondered if maybe he hadn't gotten any sleep at all because of the impact of everything going on, but more importantly because it sounded like Yuko had gone a bit beserk on him.

 _She scared 'im a'righ'._

Actually Natsu had only told the woman to do what she would do anyway. Natsu had a strong feeling that the ex-con would be curious about the boy seeing as it had sparked Aizen's last betrayal and because, undoubtedly, she had been told of his part in the upcoming war. It had surprised Natsu that the woman had simply let go of her accusation about the hollowfication process that the ex-con may have gone through, but perhaps Yuko had assumed that Natsu only knew about the other hollowfication cases. It was something that could be easily bypassed, especially because Yuko's own hollowfication was something that most weren't aware of at all. Minus an all too detail oriented Aizen who kept viciously calculated notes in his desk drawers.

"I's jus' 'cause ya a newbie, Ichi," Natsu called him back to the present. "There's plenty ya don't know goin' on."

"Like those other guys... The vizards."

Natsu hummed slightly and then smirked. "Now…. Who're they?"

"You're the one that mentioned other players coming into the mix."

"Ichigo," she paused with the weight of the name tripping over her tongue and found his brown eyes peering up at her. "Ya not as dumb as I though' ya were."

"I'm going to kill you." Natsu let out a small chuckle at Ichigo's inflamed body. He did his best to appear larger than her, and he hunched over her relaxed frame. His eyes had slanted down and she could see the pulse of his rage in the small twitch by his eyes, the maniacally waving fingers, and the throb in his forehead.

She wafted at the air as she moved clear air in as she spoke out slowly to herself, "ya jus make it too easy."

He settled down with a large sigh and tossed his head back up to the sky a few moments after her whisper. His frown settled back down on his face like the old friend that it was. "What was it you wanted to say?"

Natsu peered at him. There had been a small flame of resolution in that body, but it was very resigned. She could see that throughout his entire aura, and even in the small bursts of his reiatsu. It was better than having nothing at all, in truth. Resignation towards defeat, though, was a not a good way to enter into any stage at all. It caused more problems than anything, with a halfhearted promise to the self that was more easily broken than the ones that were planted and locked between the twist of two pinky fingers.

"I 'ate ma zanpakuto." Ichigo lurched up and sharply turned his head over towards her, as she let out a noisy sigh. She scratched slightly at her head and then dumped it more firmly against her fingers, so that they were digging into her scalp. "I suppose i's similar ta wha' ya goin' through now."

"Does your zanpakuto also make you turned into a crazed lunatic?"

"Well," she twittered out slowly and then snorted. "I guess not... but she does ge' pretty mean an' loud."

"Then wh—"

"I jus' mean tha' I went through somethin' similar." Natsu flickered her eyes up to him from the boards of the bench. "Let me ta ya wha' ended up happenin'."

Her desire to enter into the kido corps had been a quarter ruled by her hatred towards her zanpakuto and its abilities. She was fine with the healing ability because it could also work much better with her own natural inclination to kido and seals. She could appreciate the desire to save people, and then having the capability of making sure that someone returned how to their loved one. If she picked one of the two powers she had been born with, she would have easily taken the tanto over the kantana.

The katana was the most common depiction of a Shinigami and as such it is also the symbol of death that is most commonly thought of. Natsu couldn't think of anything worse to tote around with her. In fact, the reason she had sealed her zanpakuto to her wrist was not only because it was easier to carry around, but also because in its sealed form, it was an exact replica of how it looked in its shikai in terms of design. She didn't want the reminder that she was meant to be a Shinigami of all things swinging on her hip or her back. It was much better tucked away from her ire.

More purely, she supposed, it was also that she didn't actually want to damage anyone. It was the last tendril of innocence in her, like those large wide eyes that looked up at the sun and just couldn't get enough. She didn't want the constant reminder that she could impress three times the amount of damage on someone else at its worse, or make someone suffer from the same heat that she had struggled to control over herself.

"So when I transferred inta tha Gotei 13, I was asked by ma cap ta do special trainin' bein' one o' tha few shinigami ta eva 'ave a dual spirit." Natsu shrugged slightly as raked through her memories. "I refused 'course… 'Cause I was in a healin' squad an' there jus' ain't no reason ta go an' learn 'ow ta kill if I ain't gonna be doin' it."

"Something went wrong then?"

"Almost got maself killed… I was sent onta tha field an' there were a bunch o' hollows but I hadn't used ma zanpakuto in years by tha' point."

Ichigo's brows furrowed slightly and then he asked, "but hadn't you already mastered it?"

"Ain't ya been listenin'? I said I only liked tha' healin' part." Natsu offered her hand out as she plated the words and sent them back to his confused face. "I rejected everythin' 'bout learnin' tha fightin' part, an' then in tha Kido Corps ya jus' don't need a sword so I hadn't drawn it in years."

"So you almost got hurt and then trained to learn about your shikai." Ichigo assumed and Natsu only shook her head at his response. "No?"

"Yeah. - No," Natsu huffed out. "I almost died 'cause ma sword went an' almost consumed me… She gets blood thirsty an' I hadn't used 'er in years then there was so much ta kill she went berserk an' kept me down in ma inner world fo' 'bout three weeks."

Ichigo choked slightly and Natsu only smirked up at him as he tried to regain the ability to speak. It had been a long three weeks, and she had argued constantly with the lion. It had never shifted into the woman, who might have let her back out with a good bargain. Instead the lion kept its teeth glinted and bared, its claws out and ready to slice, and its red eyes placed firmly on her the whole time. Natsu had been backed into a corner with the predator, and it was only luck that the sun had scorched so bright until it fizzled out completely. In the darkness Natsu had slipped into a regular sleep and then had woken up to find out that Unohana had forcibly suppressed her reiryoku for a few seconds to allow her to escape.

"Afta' I had ma figh' wit' ma own zanpakuto, I trained a bit more in it 'til I could use tha firs' ability it taught me… But tha trust between us is 'orrible an' we still don't get 'long."

The wind danced between them for a long moment. It was just enough time for something to come along the boy's eyes. It didn't overlay the darkness of his attitude, but it cleared up the pathway for him to walk down it. It washed over him and she made out the power in his clenched fists as he gave a nod to himself.

With that small clearance, the rest of the atmosphere could go back around them. It started first with the sun starting it blaze. It ended with the reiatsus that had been hidden to the boy becoming ever stronger. They both hunkered under that leaking weight, and Natsu shuddered at the tickle that started at her back. She still hadn't been able to completely wash away the ghost fingers, and it was leaving nothing but a hollow hole in her own body, much like the one that had been on Giel's.

"Are," Ichigo breathed slightly at the sudden quake of nervousness in his voice. "Are you telling me to join them?"

Natsu quirked her brow at that. "Took ya fo' tha type tha' do whateva he wanted… Kinda like me." Ichigo only perused her answer and then threw it away as he pressured her to give something else as a gift. "Fine… I ain't tellin' ya ta do anythin'."

"But you think that I should join them?"

"Does it matta wha' ya call yaself tha' much? Shinigami, Vizard, hollow… Whateva. Be whateva ya wan'." Natsu wafted the words over to him as she waved her hand along. "Wha' I'mma actually sayin' is doin' trainin' when ya got tha opportunity ain't a bad thing."

Ichigo nodded slowly and he came to a stand, which she slowly followed. She grabbed at the trash and stowed it until she could throw it away, while she dragged after him. The food had given her energy, and the conversation had resolved the boy, but they were still lingering behind from a normally faster pace. More likely to do with Natsu's normal meanderings but Ichigo didn't look none disturbed at having to go at a slower walk.

There was air to breathe in and the birds chirped around them. There was a small cold brush along the wind that swept away whatever was lingering of the ash around them. They were both coming down from the remnants of the fight. Finally letting it casually drift from their shoulders as sometimes they spoke casually. Nastu would ask a few questions about things she saw in the windows, and Ichigo would subtly give back answers, so that he wouldn't completely weird talking to himself on the street. Natsu had even made a joke about it, but it only got her a near throttling and the spark in the boy's short fuse.

She trailed with him up until they started to enter the warehouse district. "Ain't gonna walk all tha way since i's jus' a waste o' time, but they're in there somewhere."

"Thanks." Ichigo nodded slightly as he looked over at the open lots before turning back to her. "Do you trust them at all?"

The question hit her like a lead bullet in the heart. She thrummed from the very vibrations of his words. Then she felt like she was leaking somewhere but she couldn't plaster down anything to prevent everything from coming undone. It was only when her eyes trailed down from his eyes as her head slowly cocked over to the side she could fully recognize it. The ground became a sort of glue to the soft beats and the wrecked breathing in her body. When she could kick at the ground she knew that the moment had passed over, although she had no sense of how much time she had given to the question.

"Well, I don't think they wanna kill ya…. Good 'nough yeah?" Natsu supplied slowly.

His eyes dulled slightly and his eye lids went flat over his eyes as he let out a sighed, "thanks."

Natsu smirked at the bland response from the boy. "Don't botha wit' tha' Ichi… Jus' use 'em 'til ya can drop 'em. If ya trust 'em afta tha' i's ya choice."

Natsu watched as the boy gave a swift nod with his normally perturbed face again and then trudged into the sparsely filled area with his hands stuffed into his pockets and that stern 'T' of his shoulders and his spine.

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter done and dusted! Someone once before asked in a review about the zanpakuto and Natsu's reasons for hating (or at least extremely disliking) that part of her. Some of that has finally been revealed. Oh emotions are such wonderful things... Not.**

 **Quick thank you to Golden-pharaohs-tomb for your review. Glad that you're keen on the story!**

 **Can't wait to hear more from you guys so comment/review/question/say 'hi' or whatever. Let me know. Thanks!**


	22. Chapter 21

There was a steady buzz coming from her sleeve which she made a swat at before turning a bit on the grass. She barely made out the way her arm swung up over her eyes, whilst her other hand was somewhere dormant in her hair. That same buzzing came again, and her eyes slowly opened up to look at the blades that she was resting on. The thin, strings of green piercing against her hand and then her cheek as she moved again and tried to settle away from the sun by rolling over more fully onto her stomach. She groaned at a third buzz against her skin, and turned onto her back with a heavy flop of her arms limply dropping by her sides. She planted her head firmly into the ground and then rifled through her sleeves when she felt that her energy was finally returned underneath the blaze of the sun above her. Her fingers were sucked into her pocket and then they tugged out the small communicator that she used with the team.

"Wha?" She questioned as she brought the small silver device up to her ear. Her eyes blinked a bit more as they connected with the sun above her, and then she ran her eyes over her tear ducts to get rid of the sleep that had nestled in there. "Repeat tha'? I wasn't listenin'."

"Get your butt over here Kotomi."

Natsu pulled the device strictly away from her ear, not even bothering to glance at it as a grimace came along her lips when the other voice on the communicator suddenly shut off, leaving nothing but a cold tone where the voice should have been. A long sigh made a slow, but smooth, departure from her lips at the ire in Hitsugaya's voice. Her eyes slicked over into a shut state for a few moments and then she rocked up. Her hands paraded through her hair and then she drifted them over her face again to scrub at whatever residue remained there. The limb dropped back down onto the grass and she blinked a few times to clear out the fogginess of her brain, as she slowly cataloged the never changing stream that she had taken a nap by again.

There was a beep of a car behind her which sent a small shiver down her spine at the sudden crack of sound in the area. She rose from her seat with a long groan coming from her mouth as her back popped and her hips rubbed awkwardly together. After patting down her hakama pants, she walked with her deliberate short, ungainly, lethargic steps, hiding the device again into her sleeve. Then she shuffled both her hands down into her pockets as she ambled over to meeting the team.

 _Sucks…. Ma nap got 'rupted 'gain._

 _Your sleep seemed to have helped the rest of your injuries settle._

 _… Sleep's tha only way._

She grumbled slightly under her breathe and then pushed her hand up into her hair. "Why I gotta do all this shit? Ain't I doin' 'nough jus' by bein' 'ere?"

She shoved through the people in the street, many of whom blinked curiously at the feeling of being moved. She ignored the turning heads of the curious humans, though she did her best to be a bit more swift as she dodged around them. Instead she favored continuing with her grumbles of having to do work as she made an idle march over to where the group was centered. She'd much rather be sleeping the day away under the heat of the sun which could watch her enviously. Instead her nap had already been interrupted several times before so that she could kill off the few daring hollows in the neighborhood, and then again when she had just gotten that call. Not to mention when cars starting beeping their horns she'd be brought back up to the surface of the waking world, and there was also the one time children were running around her.

She turned the corner where she felt the lines of reiatsu pulling her and spotted Rangiku who waved her arm up high. Another thick grimace came along her features as she stopped any more words from sliding out of her mouth which would get her in more trouble with the short captain. Shoving down a bit further, hands once again nearing the seams of her pockets, she edged closer to the group. They had picked what appeared to be a rarely used street, which was a three way intersection; the street she walked down to the perpendicular one that ran through it.

It was obvious the two of them were in their gigai. Rangiku was still happily perky with her short brown mini-skirt that she was wearing and the yellow blouse and cardigan combination. She also had on knee high white socks and brown loafers. There was still that ever charming smile on her lips, and her blue eyes coiled up around Natsu as she walked up that much closer to the duo. Hitsugaya, on the other hand, was still in his school uniform which were a pair of gray slacks and a button up white shirt which he left undone at the tie, although he had a blue tie settled around it. He huffed out an impatient sigh as he pointed out she was the last one there.

Natsu's eyes trailed over to Rukia who had taken to also wearing her gigai with a school uniform, and then over to the other three Shinigami who were waiting around the street. Ikkaku had his back up against the wall, settling for a small flip of his hand in acknowledgement to her coming, with Yumichika predictably by his side checking out his nails though he did drive his eyes up briefly to look at her. Renji was the only other, who looked grumpy, as he sat up against the opposing wall. Natsu blinked a fair few times as Rangiku wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave a youthful whine at the lack of energy coming off of her.

"I was nappin'…. Wha's up?"

Hitsugaya's small body loomed closer to her as he began, "you shouldn't be napping at -"

""Kaku ya lookin' a bit beat up." Natsu proclaimed suddenly as she took in the wounds that he was still sporting on his body. "I'll take care of it."

There was a faint nod from the guy before she was squatting down near the street with another wide splay of her legs. She fished around until she was bringing out her medical pack and laying it on the ground. As soon as it was enlarged she shifted through the contents before she was pulling out a bottle that was shaped like a filled in figure eight with two big bulbs and a cinch in the middle. Her eyes turned up as the group leaned in slightly to see what she was doing, before she tossed it over to her patient who had angled away from the wall to stand up straight.

"Test it for me, yeah?"

"Why would I do that?" Ikkaku spluttered as he eyed the bottle and held it carefully as if it would explode between his two hands. "Can't you just use kaido?"

"Cause I wanna see if this works."

Yumichika leaned over towards the bottle and then peered over at her with his chin being overtaken by his hand. "What is this supposed to be exactly, Natsu?"

"Healin' wata." Natu's words became even more garbled as she slouched her cheek into her hand to prop her up. "I's more diluted than tha otha stuff."

"Other stuff?" Rukia asked curiously. She took a more proper squat, with her skirt tucked into the back of her knees, by the bag and leaned over like a child in a candy store to look in at the content.

Natsu nodded slightly and dropped her hand down into the bag whilst her head dumped slightly forward as if someone had slapped it from behind. She pulled up the second bottle that was shaped like a normal cylinder, with her fingers loosely locking around it as she shifted her head over to the side so she could see the group. It was always one of the additions to her pack that she carried around, which none of the other division four members had access to. It was a special invention of her own after all, and she was rather tight lipped about how she learned how to use any of them.

"This is ta pour onta wounds and clean 'em up… Works wit' ma zanpakuto 'bility." Natsu dropped it into the bag immediately and then waved her hand over to the one that Ikkaku was eyeing, though with less suspicion than she had seen moments before. "Tha one's fo' consumin'… Migh' be a bit hot."

Ikkaku raised his eyebrow and then narrowed his eyes down at her. She only shrugged as her hand swung back down so that she was brushing against the bag again. He huffed slighty and then shrugged before twisting the cap off. His eyes flickered around for a quick second before he tipped a few drops into his mouth. He pulled back just after and stared at the hole.

Natsu had purposely designed it the way it was now. It had an especially tight hole in the mouth piece to only allow a few drops to go through at a time. The hardened material of that particular bottle was to help keep the heat in so that the bottle wouldn't overheat. The shape was to make it act a bit like a glass timer, so the near empty top section would have a lot of space to aerate, while the bottom could slowly leak through as the top drained out. This was to help with containing the heat particles whilst making sure that the consumer could never take more than was necessary.

"Should do," Natsu commented and Ikkaku's eyes flickered over to her before tossing the bottle back over. Her fingers deftly caught the time just before it could hit the ground. "How ya feelin'?"

Ikkaku frowned slightly and then did an internal search, which she knew he had become used to doing since this was her standard procedure. Surprisingly, Ikkaku made a wonderful test subject for new healing methods with him always getting hurt and with him having a high level of tolerance for pain. Just as his eyes were widening, a soft redness gathering in them, she saw the sweat beginning to leak out from his head. With an eyebrow propped along her forehead, she stood up and walked closer under his intense gaze. Her fingers picked at his shihakusho top and slowly split it apart as the sweat grew more intense and was making trails down from every pour. Her eyes narrowed at the small tinges of black in the sweat coloring, but other than that it was normal sweat though it was coming out more rapidly than she had anticipated.

"I's workin' like I though'… Jus' drink wata afta this."

"Does it have to be so damn hot?" Ikkaku breathed and a bit of smoke came out of his mouth. Natsu had him do it one more time before he continued his grumbles, "feels like my inside are burning from spicy food."

Natsu hummed slightly and looked at the bottle still in her hands. "I diluted it but it still migh' be too strong."

"Just how strong in the other one then?" Yumichika queried as he was watching the process before trailing his finger along the other man's neck and testing out the sweat. "Why is this black?"

Natsu looked at the stain that was slowly spreading along the peacock's finger and then whipped at it to see that it hadn't infused onto his skin. The man made a small comment about feeling a small bit of heat from it, to which she nodded feeling the same thing. She grumbled slightly at how much darker the color was now, other than the color they had been when the process had started moments earlier. It was a dramatic escalation that she wasn't sure what to do with, though there were two options: Ikkaku was more injured than even he had lead himself to believe (something which wasn't hard to imagine) or she had messed up the dilution process. Her eyes narrowed down on the bottle again which was nothing more than a luke warm under her hand.

"Tha otha one is tha temperature of third degree burns." Natsu looked up at the jerk from the group, several squawks of protest coming from the people present, and then over at Ikkaku's very worried face which was aggravatingly gawking at her. She was sure he would do more if it wasn't for the fact that he looked like he had a very serious fever and was trying to stand up straight. "This ain't suppose ta be more than really hot tea."

"Are you trying to kill me Natsu?" Ikkaku huffed out with another smoggy breath coming out of him. The threat was diminished significantly by the worried look as he was panting himself down and trying to wipe at the sweat. "My tongue feels like it's burning off now."

"Ya said it was like spicy food?"

"Yeah but it's getting worse now."

Natsu sighed and tossed the bottle over to Yumichika as she got the bald man to strip off his top, which he quickly hung from his hips. Her hands slowly went up along his hands and then over the muscles in his forearms and biceps, before running along his chest. Ignoring the obviously new scars that he had obtained, he was mainly smooth skin. He had the tiniest nicks and the old scars that were nothing more than white dashed lines; many of which she had treated herself. They left raised ridges in some places of his body or calloused, overworked, hardened patches that she knew were from how the skin was forced to stretch to accommodate Ikkaku's style. She moved to his back and made a small scan of the spread of muscles, which looked the same as the front, before going back around to get her bag.

"While Madarame's getting checked why don't you talk about what you called us here for Kuchiki?" Hitsugaya proclaimed as he noticed the medic hunkering over the combat man.

"Right…. It's come to my attention that Ichigo has gone missing." Natsu let out a small hum at the startled statements as she was preparing the dissolvable thread. "This morning his family were worried by his absence and I did a scan of the town all afternoon but I couldn't find him."

Ikkaku had taken a seat on the street and Natsu was squatting over an extended leg as she faced him head on. She pinched into the skin just under his collar bone. Just as she was about to press the needle into his skin, a bit of black puss ran down from the cut that she was beginning to work on. She paused and squeezed more. The dark liquid ran out with a smooth glide and quickly began to dry up; crusting over the spot until she could no longer make out where she had caused the hole to begin with. Her finger trailed over the thin, cracking black piece before giving it a tentative push only to watch as the black spot gave way like old skin showing newly formed skin.

She pulled away and twisted into the bag that her patient was holding for her. His eyes flickered over to her but she paid little mind to that as she made out the disturbed comments and questions from the others that were still talking about the situation. Her hands rifled into the bag for gauze, and she dropped the sewing material back in to deal with the thought to organize the bag later. She moved back around and soaked up all the matter and the repeated the process for the remaining cuts that were lingering.

When she pulled away the sensation of heat were disappearing quickly from him. She made a note about the immediacy of the heat but the delayed reaction of the healing. It wasn't far off from what happened with the other solution, but she probably had to dilute it out a bit more to see if she could reduce the heat while still retaining the same healing effects.

She patted slightly on his shoulder. "How's tha heat?"

"Dwindling." Ikkaku muttered back and shoved the bag over to her as she swooped off to the side to squat next to him. "Feels a bit more like being in a hot spring."

"Good… Ya insides should also clear up but I'mma gonna check that now," Natsu mentioned back. She slipped behind him and pressed her hands onto his back to see if she could sense any more disturbances. "Any bruises an'where?"

"Nope."

"I guess ya good then. Jus' drink some wata yeah?"

"Sure."

Natsu plopped next to him again and started to shift through all the material in her bag again to get it back into it original place. A medic's top priority is the ease of access to their tools. The conversation was coming to a bit of standstill, but it was just enough silence so that her voice could be heard. "Bout Ichi… I don't think ya should be so concerned 'bout it."

"Do you know something Kotomi?"

Natsu stuffed the needles away and threw her glance over to the crossed arms and the narrowed look the captain was showing her. She shrugged slightly. "Nothin'… Jus' tha it ain't really our responsibility ta care 'bout him."

"How—"

"We're 'ere fo' tha arrancar." Natsu cut off Rukia who looked disturbed at the prospect. "Sucks tha' he's missin' but he's a big boy so he'll take care of 'imself jus' fine."

Rukia sniffed slightly but her immediate response did not come as she settled back onto her two feet. She stood strong for a moment as she wavered over what to say with her arms wrapped around herself to support whichever decision she was going to make. "It's just so unlike him."

"I's Ichi. Don't worry so much 'bout 'im." Natsu shrugged again and zipped up the bag before making it small again and shoving it back up her sleeve and into a pocket. "Probably jus' figurin' somethin' out righ? 'Bout tha hollow?"

"I guess," Rukia shakily put out as she nodded along to her theory.

"Actually, I'm going to agree with Natsu on this," Yumichika suddenly put forward as he loosely crossed his arms. The feathers ruffled slightly as his eyes moved about. "Looking for Ichigo would only mean we don't have trust in him or his capabilities to defend himself. I'm sure he'll reappear."

Natsu let out a bit of huff at Yumichika's smirk and then stood up. "This it? I woke up fo' this or there somethin' else?"

"We're all dismissed I guess." Hitsugaya rolled out and looked down at his phone. "Make sure you keep your communication devices on you at all times and keep your eye peeled for anything unusual. We don't know what the arrancars could have hidden."

Everyone in the group nodded before they began to walk in their individual directions. Natsu took a slow swivel at the retreating backs before following after Renji, who had been pretty quiet throughout the entire meetings. He steps stuttered for a moment before they went back to their usual pace as she meandered after him in her usual slop. They moved about two steps between each other with Renji leading her down the path towards the shop, though she already knew the directions of how to get there.

"What are you doing Kotomi?"

"Goin' ta Kisuke's 'course."

"Why?"

"Cause I need ta see 'im."

Natsu nearly ran into the red-head's back as he suddenly stopped. As she was pressed close to him she could make out the tension that ran congruent with the look on his face, which became more and more clear to her as he turned around. He was like a stone as she looked up at him and the grave carvings that were his frown and the narrowness of his eyes. She knew that he was trying to make her combust with that simple look.

She stumbled back at the sudden force of his forearm over her shoulders, as his arm became a bar against her collar. Her back crashed against the wall behind and she let out a small breath at the dig of the bricks against her spine, which poked at her no matter which way she twisted. It wasn't a hard press, not done in the least to cause her a lot of damage, and it was easy enough to slip by if she had wanted to use force in retaliation. She didn't move, though, because of the fierce shackles that he was bolting over her with his eyes and the torn look in them as she knew was the accusations against one of his own kind. Nonetheless she was sure that her eyes were semi-large as she continued to peer up at her fellow shinigami.

"I'd never hurt a woman," Renji stated and jammed her a bit more up against the wall so that she was standing straight in the loose physical lock. "And normally I would be okay with your attitude, but you've already pissed me off for the day."

"Eh?"

"You know something about Ichigo, don't you?"

Natsu blinked a few times until she let out a sigh. Her breath slackened the arm bar across her shoulders, and then her hands were tugging her free from the grasp. "I already said, boke… I's Ichi jus' trust him."

"Oh, I trust him." Renji spanked out his words across her cheeks. "I don't trust you."

Her hands swiped against the wall behind her as she leaned into the bricks a bit more to get further away from his intensity. Renji was the closest to Rukia and he was no where near as forgiving to someone he barely had any connection with. While Ichigo may have been exempt because he was obviously not connected and had done so much to protect his dear friend, Natsu was not granted the same leniency. She, after all, was nothing more than a liar for forty years as she sleuthed three newly exiled captains and trusted in three former exiled captains.

"Like ya don't trust Kisuke, got it."

"No," Renji rumbled out. "I trust you a bit more than him because of Izuru and Ikkaku-san and the help you've been so far. I just also know that you know something and you're hiding it again."

When hadn't she been hiding something? She had spent the past forty years hiding the truth that only just over a two handfuls knew but they were obviously in no position to talk about it. Before that she had hidden behind a name just so that she could destroy another. And even before that she had hidden behind a body. Now she hid behind knowledge that she wanted to rip out of her own skull and toss across the room if she only had the ability to do it. She'd easily have handed it over to anyone that wanted it because who wants to wear a stone mask for what could have been an inconceivably, infinite amount of time. Natsu let her head fall against the wall as she let out a small chuckle to ease out all the tension of her thoughts and the awakening of the darkest part of her that she didn't want to stand any longer.

"Whadaya want, Abarai?"

Renji stared at the beaten eyes before him and then pushed away. "Do you know where Ichigo is?"

"Sure. Ya could know too if ya wanted."

"How long have you known Urahara Kisuke?"

"Forty years."

"You were in on the whole thing from the get go, huh?"

"Yup."

Natsu looked at the beast that was trailing back into the man's body. He shoved his hands into his pockets and swiftly turned over so that he could continue walking. She stumbled away from the wall and continued to watch as she hunched there for a moment, before making slow progress behind him. She was a bit busy trying to stop the internal bleeding with her hands skimming over the dark reaches that she hadn't dealt with in a long time. She did her best to continue stitching back on her mask that she had worked so long to put up in the first place.

"I's not like Kisuke 'as a vendetta," Natsu spoke out to the man's back as she patted down at her shihakusho through her lumbering walk. "I's jus' 'ow it worked out, ya know?"

"I want to hear that from that man's mouth."

Natsu settled her eyes along the ground just a bit before her feet. Of course, Renji would also have something against Kisuke for what he had done. The chord of friendship between him and Rukia was just that long and that strong to not be severed even with social status, she presumed. Her eyes softened slightly at the very idea, at that image of a strong backboard to always have against her.

"Ya eva think things coulda been worse, Abarai?" Natsu whispered out. "Ya askin' ta bunk wit' three people tha' were tha firs' sign of Aizen's betrayal… An' they attempted ta 'elp an' failed."

"Tha—"

"Give more consideration ta tha' 'fore ya go yappin' 'bout ya own pain of not losin' anythin' at all."

* * *

 **A/N: So, another done. Sorry for the slight delay readers.**

 **Anyway, to xXFallenSakuraXx52, hmmmmm... I understand the yearning for this to be a romance or at least to have hints of romance. To be honest, I thought that Natsu having an interest in someone might be nice. Perhaps, perhaps not. It's still very much open for debate as they say.**

 **As for your other point on the zanpakuto, thank you. I'm glad you found it interesting. I'll tell you now that there is still a bit more coming on Natsu's abilities (though not for a while) but the groundwork is definitely laid out. It _would_ be interesting to see what Sekhmet would be like in the 'Rouge Zanpakuto' arc. It would not go over very well is my opinion. As you can imagine with their past history being what it was, Natsu would probably do her best to avoid the situation all together... which probably wouldn't work out for her, right?**

 **And for anyone that is curious Sekhmet is a real mythological figure. If you have any interest, I'd give her a search. I did my best to be true to what I found out.**

 **Thank you for reading. I hope you all continue to enjoy. Review/comment/question/say 'hi' or whatever.**

 **Take care.**


	23. Chapter 22

Urahara Kisuke had not changed at all. Since the last time she had gotten a brief person-to-person interaction, which was edging very close to thirty-five years ago now, Urahara Kisuke had remained the same. He wore that white and green striped hat which had his blonde hairs poofing out to the sides over his ears and by his cheeks. His gray eyes sometimes popped out from the shadows of his wide hat when he wasn't trying to make an impression or hiding himself away to think. Sometimes, though, when the gray irises were strikingly visible, they were still closed over by distant memories that she was well aware she created. When he didn't have the fan up to his face, the whiskers on his chin were visible and so was that wide, cheery smile he always had.

He even had the same clothing much to her dismayed thoughts about 'old dogs and new tricks'. He was still standing over her with the genta sandles on his feet which added unneeded height to his already taller stature. While not the tallest man Natsu knew, the scientist sometimes had a odd way of making people either feel incredibly small within his gaze or significantly large, depending on how he wanted to play it. To be on the receiving end of either disposition, as Natsu often remembered, was tiresome. He adorned a black, or dark green, cloak with white diamonds at the bottom, with a matching set of a green yukata top and green trousers which cut off just above his ankles.

He blinked furiously with the fan held up to his face as he peered over at her; large gray eyes almost childish as they fluttered whilst steadfastly holding her in his place of vision. Then he made an awkward jumble over to her with his knees energetically going up, arms rowing by his sides, and swooped her up into his arms. She grunted at the force that pressed her head, torso, and shoulder against his chest with his arms acting like boa constrictors to snuggle her even closer. She let him toss her around as if they were really long term friends seeing each other after so long before she started to squirm as energetically as she dared to get away from the man.

"It's been so long Natsu-san. It's wonderful to see you again," Kisuke cheered. He put her down onto the ground and kept one hand on her shoulder as he hid behind his fan again to rove over her. "You haven't changed much at all~"

"Same goes fo' ya Kisuke."

"Come in, come in. It'll be nice to have another lady in the house." Kisuke beckoned as he pushed her more towards the door. "We ha—"

"What about me you bastard?"

The two of them peered round to see that Renji was standing there with his arms firmly crossed over his chest. He had planted himself close by, within a few quick steps, and stood with his legs firmly locked in place. No blow could send him away, even one from Tessai, and was rooted in deep to the ground like an old oak tree. A snarky scowl was along his lips and there was a faint twitch in his eye as he looked at them.

Kisuke cast a gaze at her for a moment, to which she shrugged to his plea for help, and then he sidled around faintly to call back, "well… I have no use for a fukutaicho from the Gotei 13."

Natsu snickered slightly but Renji's blaring hatred for the man came out unfiltered. "I helped you out last night so the least you could do is let me into the house."

"Get in here… All of you." Natsu jerked at the Yoruichi's call to see her barely clothed in her underwear as she was bent underneath the shield covering the door. Her right leg and arm bandaged up tightly in a stark contrast to her darker complexion. "I need Natsu to take a look at my injuries."

There were a few flabbergasted chokes behind her, most likely from Renji, but Natsu proceeded forward . She ducked under the grates that were half down to cover up the door from any unwanted intrusion. Namely the fukutaicho that was going to be following after her because of the cat's annoyed attitude. It might also have had to do with barring other visitors to make sure that there were no signs of the arrancars return and to cater towards the needs of the wounded. Upon slipping easily inside, she snagged the cat by the shoulders, slumping down as lightly as possible on the other woman as the two ambled through the aisles which made of Kisuke's store and further back into the store.

The dining room had been the only room she had ever made it to upon her short visits. It was covered up in light green tatami mats along the floors and the walls were a pasty tan color with a few pictures around it to liven up the areas. Other than the table at the center of the room, there was a hexagonal frame up on the ceiling to house the small bulb of light for the room. It had a small chain hanging down from it to turn it on and off. There was also a small brown cabinet which held plates and other dishes that might have to be used during dinner. That's how she was brought back to focus as she heard Yoruichi let out a small grunt from where she was sat. The cat had settled down cross legged and was making do with eating with her left hand much slower than what Natsu remembered her ever doing.

"Wanna try somethin' I jus' made?" Natsu asked evenly as she sifted through her sleeves. "I tried it on 'Kaku an' he said there was some 'eat but nothin' ya shouldn't be able ta stand in ya underwear."

"I'll give it a shot then."

Natsu smirked slightly at the willing test subject and then opened up her medical bag for the second time that day and got the bottle out. While she hadn't had time to make any adjustments having two samples of information would help her to better calculate how much more needed to be diluted. She informed the cat to only take in one drop for now, so that she could see what just one would do. Yoruichi gave the offered bottle a quivering look between discernment and curiosity, before gripping onto it.

The movement quickly revealed how much functioning the cat still retained even with the injuries, and Natsu nodded slightly at the new information. The walk with Yoruichi to the dining room had helped as well, so now she could more fully put together a picture of the injuries. Her own fight with Giel had given her a small knowledge that there was some sort of coating over the arrancar if they focused enough on it. Thankfully she hadn't sustained any damage from him, since he seemed to rely more on his combat strength to keep her at bay. Additionally, it probably didn't help that Yoruichi's main offensive strength came through hakuda; placing her in direct contact with whatever sort of armor the arrancars' had.

It was easy to tell that the cat woman was suffering from micro-fractures along her clavicle and all the way down the scalpula, humerus, and radius bones which made up her collarbone and her arm. There were probably also fissions along the muscles that made up the older shinigami's back and core, particularly right along the arch of her hip flexor and around the ribs. Additionally, if the small limp caused by Natsu's slight extra weight during their walk was anything to go by, there was a significant amount of damage done to the tendons and muscles groups of her legs.

However it seemed that the durable skin could only cause micro-fractures or tendon issues. It wasn't nerve damage seeing as there was the reaction to pain, and the severity wasn't strong enough to prevent full functioning of either limbs which means there was nothing disrupting the electrical signals from the brain to the limbs. It was, obviously, enough to impede strength with whatever sort of damage it did cause as she had Yoruichi squeeze at her hand several times the hardest the cat could.

Natsu was twisting around the arm before she heard a few coughs coming from the cat and looked up at the jabbing words. "Stand it? This is fucking hot, Natsu."

"Only one drop, really?"

"Yeah."

Natsu peered at the trails of sweat and swiped at one to see the same black residue painting over her fingers. She tested by patting at it with the tips of her fingers several more times to see that it took much longer before it evaporated and disappeared along the tip of her finger. However, it left no lingering trace other than dampness once it was gone.

There were several inches of difference in height between the two patients and also in muscle mass, which meant that weight was important to how much could be ingested in the stomach. The smaller the person the more rapidly the heat came through and the more intense the reaction was going to be. The more ingested the worse it was probably going to be, which she had assumed, but she was either going to have to figure out how to dilute the solution more or have figure out a way to cut the droplets in halves so that less could be ingested at one time.

 _Good ta know tha heat ain't causin' any otha problems though_

 _My heat does not burn through people, Natsu._

 _… Didn't know if otha people could stand it._

 _It may be strong but the point of my ability is not to critically injure those with heat directly, you should know that by now._

 _Whateva._

"How ya feelin' now?"

Yoruichi had started to sweat out profusely and she had slumped onto her left hand as she was making her way through the waves. Natsu trailed a small line of sweat with her eyes as it dropped down onto the mat below and then observed the quivering woman who had dropped her head back as she was exhaling clouds of smog. The clouds were thinning out rapidly the harder she panted, but the sweat didn't seem to be stopping at any point as drops kept falling.

"How do you think?"

Natsu looked at the heaving chest though it was slowly lessening the more the time passed. "I think ya should be 'kay in a bit."

Natsu turned her head over to see both Kisuke and Renji entering the room. The redhead kept his eyes viciously down and then in his lap as he took a seat across from the cat at the table. Kisuke silently crept up along to his friend and took a swipe at the sweat to do the same test. His eyes slated down and he peered over at her curiously. She shrugged and continued to observe the dying embers of the symptoms of her treatment, as Yoruichi was beginning to breathe a bit more deeply.

"Gave her that crazy water, Kotomi?"

Natsu smirked at him as she turned her eyes to the side to see his intrigued glance. "Ya pervert… How can ya look at a half dressed lady?"

"S- Shut up!"

"Tsk tsk." She waggled her finger slightly and her smirk slowly grew into a lecherous grin as she turned fully to him in her squat. "I's good ta know ya healthy an' lookin' at woman, Abarai, but 'ave some decency ta give 'er a moment o' privacy."

The door slide open again suddenly and Natsu peered around to stare at a pair of legs. Her gaze slowly trailed up the dark trousers, where she caught onto the bottom of a dark blue apron. She went a bit further up to see the start of a white muscle t-shirt and the bulging muscles of the man. There was the yellow rhobus with the kanji for the Shoten just around his chest, and then her gaze made it to his face.

Hidden behind a pair of glasses were his eyes, though she had seen them as a dark color once before. It was easy to see the stern façade he always had on, with his handle bar mustache covering up his top lip, even as they settled into a firm line across his face above the strong chin he had. He had long sideburns by his ears, which faded into rectangles by his forehead. His hair then had three points along the scalp as everything was fastened tightly into braids along the back which went down to the top of his back.

"Yo Tessai."

His brown eyes came down towards her immediately and she blinked at the sudden lack of space. His eyes did a quick appraisal of her face before he gave her a firm pat on the back, which had her giving a small splutter at the force, and then a smile. "It's good to see you again, Natsu-dono."

"Y- Yeah." Natsu grimaced at the formality and then swiped away at it to clear the air. "How ya been?"

"Very well. I've heard a lot about your adventures, so I believe I should be the one to ask that." Tessai commented as he took a strict kneeling posture by her. "Did you sustain any injuries from the battle you need me to look at?"

"Nah… Got maself all 'ealed up fine."

"That's a lot of progress."

While it had been true that Kisuke and she weren't super close, the same was also true for her and Tessai. They maintained a touch stronger of an alliance because of her prior association with the kido corps. As such, Tessai had taken her a bit under his wing like any old captain would have when seeing a new subordinate and was intrigued by her abilities with kido. In turn, Natsu had taken the help and would send over questions for his eyes only. Somehow they had crafted a type of inter-realm tutelage though sporatic in its nature.

"I was jus' testin' a healin' product on Yoruichi." Natsu used the comment as a reminder to herself to turn back to the cat who was chugging down as much water as Kisuke could pour out. "How ya doin'?"

"Better… The heat took a while to pass but now it feels kind of like a massage. Don't think it did anything for my arm and leg though."

Natsu frowned and picked at the arm again which was greedily shoved into her hands. She roved over the tendons and the pressure points, having Yoruichi flex and unflex to sense how everything was moving about. Her thumb came down in the middle of the woman's forearm and pressed slightly. There was a looseness in the tendons as they gave way beneath the force of her thumb but it was a contrast from the tension that they had carried before.

"Really no diff'ence from tha wata?"

"I'll go test it after I finish eating."

Natsu nodded slightly and then slumped up against the table, with one leg bent up in the air, and the other bent on the ground so that her foot was pressing against her ankle. It was almost as if a button had been pressed and the switched had moved to an off position. She rested one bicep on the table, and used her forearm as a pole to settle her cheek on top of her open hand. She nuzzled slightly into her skin before her eyes were fluttering closed to the sounds of forks against glass. Just as her head was slipping slightly she let out a small whine, and then dropped her arm along the table as it was suddenly too worn out to hold her weight. Her head followed shortly afterwards as she was resting along her bicep with her nose angled down to the table.

"Falling asleep Natsu-san?"

"Shudup." Natsu grumbled out as her eyes came to a close again. "I need ma sleep. Been livin' on something like nine hours a day fo' tha past month an' yest'day I got inta a figh' an'." A loud yawn interrupted her words before she started up again, "las' nigh' I only got 'bout five hours an' a small, broken nap this afta'noon."

"Nine hours a day? That's more than most people already." Renji muttered slightly which came in like a tunneled echo to her own ears.

Natsu shifted her head so that her nose was now brushing against the wood. "I need mo' boke… Somethin' like 'leven ta fourteen 'ours a day."

There was a soft pound by her ears and then more vibrations came through as the rest of her senses broke down. Her breathing ran ragged through her body from the awkward angle, so she unrolled in the opposite direction. Gravity brought her down until she was dumped back onto the floor and she curled in on her stomach as she rolled a bit on the tatami mats. The wind of whispers came about her and she felt a hand pressing against her back but then it receded leaving only a mutter on her lips as she hugged up against the arms of sleep.

* * *

Her eyes blurred the image of dark green before blinking shut into darkness once again. Then they fluttered open a bit more and she saw the tan just beyond the brim of dark green. After another blink she made out the small stand of the cabinet before her, along the long stretch of the tatami mats underneath her. Her fingers crinkled a bit and she felt the fabric breezing along her skin as she shifted her arms just a bit to bring those digits closer to her face.

They were bony, with the skin stretched so tight that the joints that connecting the three linked parts could be made out strongly. They were long in the way that needles extended out, all except for the nails that were rounded and cut short to the skin. There were deep etchings of her tendons as she flexed her hand and pressed her fingers out as wide as they would go. Then her knuckles turned white as she clenched down until the pads of her fingers were pinching at her palm. The blue underneath her pale skin decorated the long stretch of the back of her hand at all times, but now it was flat as everything strained from the force used to keep her hand closed.

She brought it slowly up to her forehead and pressed it right into the center with a small lift. There her fingers splayed out and she raked them over her scalp trying her best to capture the image of the ghost that had been left there. When she closed her eyes again and made a slow drizzle of her fingers along the skin of her head and the buzzcut, and then along the shaved down mohawk, she made out that memory so much clearer; as if he was just behind her again and trying to wake her up.

Her fingers dropped down onto her left shoulder and slowly pressed down to massage it before she smoothed it out and glided along her shoulder. She wrapped herself tighter into her curl and clung to herself, giving herself a few pats and a run of her fingers. She wanted to reach the center of her shoulder blades like he had done, but she clenched up all the memories in the fist and beat them down as she slammed her fist down onto the ground.

 _'orrible way ta wake up._

 _You're alone at least… And you weren't called to._

 _… Whateva._

Slowly she picked herself up from the ground and rubbed at her eyes since she had already fixed at her hair. She was still in the dining room, although it was now empty, and she got up from the ground. Her feet took her over to the kitchen when she spotted a small boy walking there.

He had flaming red hair pointed in a spike to the sides and to the back of his head which gave him just an inch of height, much like the way that Hitsugaya styled his hair to overcompensate. He was in a white shirt along his scrawny frame, and a pair of blue capris that had a white rolled bottom up to the start of the muscles in his calves. The trousers were also decorated by two strips of white that ran up the length of the sides.

When he turned around, after depositing a tub into the sink, she made out the enlarged eyes that came with children's smaller faces. They were had small darker melonin, compared to the large amount of white that occupied the rest of the space. He had pretty long lashes and his red eyebrows were finely plucked and arched up slightly towards the back though the front slanted down a bit more towards the nose. His mouth back small with a tiny frown along his face as he examined her as well, and then he was crossing his arms.

"What?"

Natsu slouched a bit more at the indignant question before she thrust her thumb over her shoulder. "I'mma lookin' fo' Yoruichi, ya seen 'er?"

"She's in the basement."

"Kay." Natsu nodded a bit and the slumped up against the frame of the door. "Ya mind showin' me where tha' is?"

"Fine," he grumbled out as he stalked back her and pushed to get through the door frame.

Natsu frowned slightly and then followed after him. "Ya pretty rude fo' a kid… Wha's ya name anyway?"

"Jinta."

"Wha' I eva do ta ya? There's no reason ta be so mean ta me."

He threw a glance over his shoulder and then twisted back around before thrusting his arm over to the small hole in the floors. Natsu raised an eyebrow slightly and loomed a bit over him as she made note of the ladder that led down into something yellow. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the vague familiarity and supposed that Kisuke must have recreated the same training space that he had done in the Seireitei.

"Thanks, kid."

"Whatever."

She let out a puff at the snark from the kid who was going back through the halls, and then started down the ladder without so much as another thought. Her eyes slowly took in the blue painted sky, and then how the terrain seemed to stretch back into a large expanse. It was rocks and canyon going on for miles and Natsu didn't even want to imagine how long it had taken for the blonde to build something of that extent, nor did she really want to know how long it seemed to go on for. It did look like a very suitable work space though, and seemed to already be used.

As she unlatched from the ladder at the bottom with her feet grinding into the dusty particle, she saw Yoruichi sending a punch straight into a rock with a loud grunt. Coming just a bit closer she saw the large dent that was in place as the cat drew further away allowing the rock to continue to crumble down. It shuddered as it hit the ground with the ever scrutinizing glare of Yoruichi who slowly turned her look down to her hand which she was flexing and relaxing.

"How's it?"

Yoruichi peered up at her and gave a slight nod. "The pain's been reduced but my strength still isn't there."

"Che." Natsu flapped her hand slightly and when she had the arm in her grasp she splayed her fingers over the pressure points along the arm. "Try ta relax."

She impounded the kaido in fast and quick into the dark skin which was now free of its bandages. The arm immediately clenched up and she felt the drapping of it against her hand as it sunk under the pain. It was almost as if it was trying to sink all the way through her hand, becoming nothing more liquid contained in a plastic bag as it continued drooping.

Once the pinpoints had been opened up again, perhaps a bit wider than they should have been, Natsu relaxed the kaido going in. Her fingers made a soft glide as she let the kaido move into something like an easy warp along the forearm. As she retracted her hand, it left a green glow around the skin, which had her preparing a new bandage for it and leaing the kaido to huddle closer to the skin under the pressure of the white sheet that was tying it up.

"I'll check it 'gain in two days. Don't use it." Natsu set the medical bag back into her sleeve as she gave the cat a pointed look at the glare. "If tha' works I'mma doin' it ta ya leg too."

"You could have warned me a bit, Natsu."

"Whateva…. Ya still standin' so doesn't matta."

Yoruichi rolled her eyes at that and looked over towards the regrouping of both Kisuke and Tessai. Natsu let out a bit of sigh and fixed at her top as the three were talking amongst themselves and Tessai was taking a look at the bandages with a hand up by his chin and a slow nod. Kisuke flickered his gaze a few times, before he was slowly turning a bit more towards her with a loud clank of her sandals that he had chosen to adorn in the place.

"Wha' ya do wit' Abarai?"

"I've sent him on a few errands since he has chosen to remain with us for the duration of his time in Karakura Town." Kisuke chirped out innocently behind his fan and his tilting hat.

Natsu let out a small chuckle at the trap the red head had fallen into. Kisuke did nothing for free and he thrived off seeing others working. It appeared to be a long standing practical joke from the sigh that came from the large man over his shoulder. Natsu could see the blonde running amuck with trying to get free work. He just had the type of personality to shuck menial things onto other people.

"Fair's fair, I guess." Natsu shrugged and smirked at the child like eyes under the hat that were blinking at her. "Free 'elps always nice."

"I wouldn't have you doing that for me, though, Natsu-san," Kisuke stated instantly as the fan closed with a soft tap, and then slipped away into his sleeves. "It'd be too cruel to make a woman work like that."

"Thanks… I's good ya bringin' this up," Natsu stated as she singled onto Tessai who perked his glasses a bit up his nose. "I'mma in tha mood fo' some trainin'." She then moved back to the blonde man who was wearing a frown along his face. "Got space?"

"Of course, Natsu-san."

"Great." Natsu finally chirped as she grinned at the man who let a small smile come along his face before it dropped away. Her eyes narrowed down at the sudden serious air around them all as her eyes twitched between the three of them. "Wha'?"

Suddenly both Kisuke and Tessai were down on there knees in a semi prostrastion, particularly as Kisuke took of his hat and placed it over his chest. Her heart plummeted and a sweat worked up at the weak position of the two men. Her eyes flickered between the two of them as her stomach clenched up and the slow lowering of their heads. Her hands came to wave off the air and she let out a few huffs to get them back on their feet but it never came.

"Wha's up wit' ya two?" Natsu spluttered as she yanked at her collar. "Ge' up… This is stupid."

"We'd both just like to offer our sincerest thank yous for your dedication and work over the past forty years." Kisuke swept out sending a cold shudder through her frame. "The release of Yuk—"

"Stop." Natsu clambered to heave in the dark yells from her chest as she just managed to growl out that one word and nothing else. Her hands clenched up into fists and she glared down at them. "I don't care - keep ya stupid thanks… Ya makin' this too serious an' i's dumb. Stand up an' neva bring this up 'gain."

Kisuke paused only slightly before he got up from the ground and placed his hat back onto his hat. He peered from underneath his hat as the younger female retreated out of the training ground leaving nothing but a dust blowing in the direction she had walked in. His mouth slowly twitched up in a heavy smile and then he heaved out a sigh.

She had probably seen through it, he pondered. Knew that he was doing it to set his own heart at ease for using a child to help fulfill his plans. She hadn't really been a child when she agreed, but any time he saw her he couldn't help it. Her face just held all those traces of that giant grin along her face and the wide eyes as she dragged him off behind her into the trees during a game of hide and seek just that once. Even if it had been wiped into the tired blossom she wore most of the time, and the long stretch of a smirk now, it was still there like the haunting ghost he knew she carried around at all times.

* * *

 **A/N: So this ended up being pretty long! And hopefully that's a good thing since I know some expressed interest in seeing Natsu's interaction with Kisuke.**

 **I wanted to give a shout out to elletheenigma and to SilencEloquent for 'favoriting' and 'following' the story.**

 **Also to** **SilencEloquent, thank you very much for taking the time to review. It's really appreciated! I certainly understood what you meant about the flow of the story and the balance. I feel that too. Not sure why... I hope you continue to enjoy the story and that it lives up to expectations.**

 **Anyway, you all know the drill by now. Comment/review/question/ask me anything or pm me if you want. Say 'hello'. Do whatever.**

 **Thanks!**


	24. Chapter 23

The routine set in very quickly the day after Kisuke's offer and the irksome schedule extended through the weeks; wake up, breakfast, training, patrol with some lunch thrown in, training, relaxation time leading to dinner and sleep. Natsu hated it the endless boredom of it all as she went through each sequential event without much joy. Not that she ever had much joy when it came to chores that she was forced to do. The only saving grace, although just a bit worrying, was the sixteen hours of sleep that she was granted because of how worn out her body was. It wasn't anything that could be helped at all, even with Tessai and Kisuke both trying to taper training a bit. The sixteen hours were the only rejuvenating process she had, and if she got any less than that her body was just off from all its functioning. This, however, did not stop Abarai's persistent snark and the grumbles that she heard on his breath.

She let out a sigh as she swirled around the ground, using her hands to help her turn direction before she flung herself over at Kisuke who was waiting with his sword prepared. They clashed as she swiped through and then came back around until they were settling in an 'X' with their faces appearing in the top V. His gray eyes glittered something dangerous and then he was flinging her back into a part of the protruding ground behind her. A sharp exhale scorched her lips as she was plowed into the ground but this time managed to maintain consciously aware of what Kisuke was doing. At least, this was unlike the last time, where she was felled and the knock had pushed her into unconsciousness.

She rolled out of the way of his next attack, a blast of red energy that cut through the ground, and lay still on her side as she breathed. A grunt lolled off her tongue as she felt the tickle of sweat going down her forehead and her stomach flared out before she was hacking out a cough of black smoke. She twisted a bit more onto her left arm, collapsing her weight so that she wouldn't support it as the coughs raked through her. Her hips dug just a bit more into the dirt as her body shuddered from the force of her rasping lungs.

"Shall we call it an afternoon, Natsu-san?" Kisuke questioned as he ignored her coughing fit.

She slumped her torso onto the ground, her temple the last thing to touch as she delicately laid it down, and let out a loud groan as she began quivering slightly under her cooling skin. Her stomach pumped up and she released a last hack at her lungs before twisting about onto her back. Her arm flung out and fell onto the ground with her fingers disappearing into the slit that the blonde had created in the ground from his last attack. It didn't always happen, but when he used enough force he could crack the landscape both ways; both up and down.

"Ya such a meanie Kisuke." She whined out as her hand came a fluttered up with a small wave of her fingers. "'elp me up."

She was brought up to standing where her legs almost dropped out from beneath her. While Kisuke wasn't an aggressive type of fighter, choosing instead to use intellect to out do opponents more swiftly, that didn't mean he couldn't use force when he wanted to. So, sometimes it was similar to fighting someone just like Ikkaku in terms of strength and agility. She could already tell that she had improved a lot with going up against force attacks, with the way that her arms seemed to reverberate under the pressure instead of crack, but she still had ways to go.

"Tsk." Natsu's words hovered just under her breath before she looked up at the rapidly blinking, coy blonde that stood patiently by her side. "I'mma tired. Carry me?"

He chuckled a bit before collecting one of her arms around his shoulder and hefting up half her weight. Her feet slide beneath her as she loosely put them down on the ground to help push off. He adjusted just slightly, tugging down at her wrist and moving her elbow more firmly around his neck. Her head clattered against his shoulder as she leaned into him a bit more, eyeing the slowly fading sword that was disappearing back into its seal.

"Sucks."

"What does Natsu-san?"

"I'mma so sweaty an' tired an' hungry." Natsu lifted her head slightly before letting it hang down so that she didn't have to use any more force as Kisuke kept lugging her toward the exit. "Why I gotta do this 'gain?"

The reached the ladder where Natsu went first, so that Kisuke could catch her if she decided to give out some time during the flight up. It had never happened before. Somehow, Kisuke had gotten very good at calculating the exact moment before the point of no return when it came to her training. Tessai had none of these problems, save for being rather compassionate in his personality, as he drew from the dredges of her reserves until she blacked out and there were often times when he hefted her full body over a shoulder and climbed the ladder by himself.

She did, however, think it was a bit hysterical that Kisuke thought that she might purposely drop, and she snickered just a bit under her breath at the thought as the two of them continued to go up. His caution probably had less to do with her durability than the issues it might ensue later on from other parties. Not that she would have allowed that to happen anyway.

She slide her belly along the floor as she came to the top and dragged the other half of her body up from the ladder with the force of her palms as they stuck to the cool flooring. Kisuke let out a small whine from somewhere behind her, something about his hands growing tired, but it only made her trembling moves even slower. Not many things annoyed the man to begin with so she could realistically take all the time in the world to finish getting out the hole. Her eyes fell onto a pair of large feet and then angled her head back as far as she could, until there was a slight strain in her throat, to make out Tessai's waist. She dropped back down immediately, her head falling between his two feet, and let out a long sigh.

Her body was picked up from her two armpits and began to fly through the air. She blanched at the idea of being carried like a child and attempted to get the large man to let her down but he adamantly refused. Her head dropped back down and watched the roving ceiling from the strictness that Tessai's tone protruded. She was just completely incapable of dealing with someone of such obdurate thinking. Not to mention the extreme politeness that was impenetrable. It always left her with a slight chill of someone living the sort of life and the rigidness to interact with people.

She slide down from his arms like going down a slide and then slumped down onto a cushion facing the table and the steaming piles of rice dished out into a bowl. Alongside it was a plate of vegetables, namely bok choy, watercress, and bean sprouts, along with grilled fish. Her eyes gazed around at the already eating people.

"'Ow was patrol?" She asked as she picked up the chopsticks.

Renji paused only slightly in his chewing. "Fine. How was training?"

"Fine."

"Hey freeloader when you're done you have to do the rest of your chores." Jinta spewed out from around his chopsticks.

"Got it." Renji waved off before his chopstick hand went slack for just a moment. "Wait… I haven't seen Kotomi do a single chore."

"That's 'cause the boss says she doesn't have to do any," Jinta retorted.

"How is that fair?"

Natsu peered up at the beaming Kisuke who had taken a seat as well and was going through his own food. The blonde swallowed just a bit before he loudly proclaimed, "Natsu-san is a delicate lady. How could I possibly make her do hard labor?"

"Delicate?" Renji spouted and gave her a glare. "There's nothing delicate about her. Just look at that face."

Natsu had pulled down on her eyelid so that the small brim of red could be seen from the underside of her eye. The other eye had remained shaped in that half-lid that she was known to sport at all times. Then she had stuck her tongue out long until it was fully extended. Her mouth opened up wide, and she used her finger to pull out the side of her lips so that it stretched just a bit wider to one side. Then she started to undulate the muscle up and down in a slow manner as if to wave a sickening victory at the red-head.

Renji's chopsticks snapped in half as he wrapped his hand around the thin utentsil. "I'm going to kill you Kotomi."

"Now now, Abarai-san," Kisuke pandered slightly as he fluttered his fan. "That's no way to treat a lady."

"Exactly Abarai… No way ta treat a lady," Natsu mimicked as she smirked before stuffing a bit of food into her mouth.

Her eyes flickered over to a snickering Jinta and they shared a none too subtle high-five by the table, before she trailed over to the very red Abarai who was blowing out a stream of anger from his mouth. She chuckled again and then stuck her tongue out once more before going back to eating properly and finishing up the meal.

Her relationship with Jinta had done a one eighty as soon as she peered into the room that Ururu was resting in. Tessai had healed up the majority of the injury from the arrancar, but he had asked her just to do another quick check. Initially the red head had been skeptical about her help, but it turned around as Ururu was up the next day and doing small tasks. He lightened up on his angsty attitude and they had managed small talk during his own chores and meals.

It also helped that Natsu liked the idea of pissing off the 'freeloader' as Jinta called him. He particularly liked her snarky, childish instigation tactics that got under the red-head's skin so well. A few days ago they had teamed up for the first time which resulted in more damage to the shop and Renji having to clean up the mess he made along with adding a few more chores as a punishment. They snickered to each other as they watched him grumbling and casting glares over at them as he went about doing the busy work.

Had it been Ikkaku then he probably would have already tried to snag at her and have her in a chokehold either with his two hands or using his arm, or drawn his sword to go soaring over towards her and get into a fight. Yumichika would be sighing at the scene and commenting about how dirty and obscene it looked. Not that Natsu ever did anything to retaliate against Ikkaku's attacks. She only continued to whine and tried to squirm out of it or dodge as freely as she possibly could with the smallest amount of movements. Occasionally she would hide behind Yumichika's body if he allowed it, and if she got very lucky, which did happen on the off chance, Iba would be there to smack the bald man over the head and focus him into a fight.

Instead, Renji had, much to her great joy, a tendency to take what she said lying down. She wasn't sure if it was the steadfast attitude of 'not hitting a girl' like he had told her or just his personality, but he was more the type to let it grate at his skin until he ballooned into a massive tomato. The fukutaicho stayed put as he dropped his head to take back control of his breathing. Only a few seconds later, he returned to eating as well, though it was more of jamming food into his mouth to drown out a few grumbles that escaped. Natsu had to commend the red head for his control over his temper and his ability to endure childish behavior from all sides.

"I'mma off fo' patrol then." Natsu sighed out as she used Jinta's head to get off the ground. He let out a little snap which she easily waved off. "See ya."  
"Hold on Natsu-dono." Natsu turned immediately at Tessai's call and looked over at the man that was by the two children. "Please leave your zanpakuto here."

"Eh?"

"From now on when you are on patrols who will leave your zanpakuto here and use only kido."

Natsu blinked several times at the new exercise. The large man was harsh when it came to training; something she had picked up on after the first time she passed out from his training regime. She had kind of expected it to be this way. He had left a rather large reputation at the kido corps. It was one which bordered between being extremely rigid in terms of training and caring towards the subordinates. He had been a pragmatic type of captain which only let the corps members trust him just that much more when it came to the decisions he made.

"Wait, what if an arr-"

"'Kay." Natsu cut through Renji's protest and brought out the zanpakuto before dropping it into Tessai's outstretched hands. "Ma rea' trainin' wit' ya begins huh?"

"Hai Natsu-dono."

While she had started a steady program with Kisuke in the past couple of weeks, Tessai had been doing mandatory observation over her kido from the sidelines. It started with the work she did on Yoruichi and Ururu in terms of trying to understand her healing, and then extended to overseeing her use of kido during a fight. He had then worked through theories with her, which were a strain to keep her eyes open through. She had pestered a bit to just get back to the physical training, but he had remained steadfast in making sure that she could do all the basics beforehand. Much to her chagrin, he had been correct to do so, since overloading the basics into repetitive movements and fight combos had exacted a toll on her; something she hadn't anticipated.

"Kotomi if there's an arra-"

"Then I'll jus' deal wit' it."

Renji snorted and raised an eyebrow. "You honestly expect me to believe you're capable of dealing with an arrancar with only kido… You're a twentieth seat of the fourth division no less."

"If tha' was true 'ow'd I beat tha las' 'rrancar?"

In honesty the fight had been tough but when she looked back on how the fight had progressed, it was more that she had been caught off guard. The difference in physical strength was striking and she knew immediately that she was at a disadvantage. It was something only further emphasized by the injuries that she had sustained from the larger man. There was no way that she should have won if pure strength was the only viable way of judging the victor. Hence the need for training now and getting used to combat strength again. She had been very glad that her zanpakuto had finally awoken enough to use to its utmost strength because it was the one thing that helped her to win the battle in the first place.

However, the more time she spent deliberating on the fight the more Natsu was certain would have won regardless. First, there was the fact that she had to adapt to the environment around of which she had spent very little time. It wasn't that any of her abilities were a thing like the quincies, and absorbed reishi to create attacks. It was more just that the lack of it was still very noticeable to them, even if there was no limiter on her.

The second was that she had spent a lot of time thinking through about Giel's ability, or hidden ability for the first half of the fight. She had done a lot to buy time so that she could think about what she could do to see what was hidden and get the most information out of him. Then when he had released she spent time playing catch up and trying to avoid the projectiles that he had sent over at her.

The third was that she was still fighting against her body and the release of all three seals. The seals were not limiters like the captain and lieutenants had, since they did not suppress the amount of reiatsu which left her body. They acted more like funnels for how her reishi moved through her body and by proxy limited the pace at which she could translate it into reiatsu to use but also where the reishi could accumulate. For instance, she needed more reishi by her hands if she wanted stronger kido attacks, or she needed to force reishi more towards her core to supply her zanpakuto.

Now that the transition had settled somewhat she was more aware of how her body was reacting to environment in the human world but also just a normal, day-to-day basis of remembering how reishi naturally flowed through her being. She could feel the flares every single evening, and it had been what was making her sleep that many more hours as her body was acclimatizing to itself. Being cognoscente of how her body was always something which improved her fighting and she was sure that it would have helped in the first fight if she hadn't taken off that last seal so late.

"Well… I'm not saying you're weak Kotomi. If Ikkaku-san sticks up for you than that means something," Renji supplied. "But it's a bit much to think that you can take on an arrancar with only kido."

There was still that underlying tone of disbelief which was an accusation in itself and Natsu narrowed her eyes at that. She slothed over to him slowly and then squatted by his side. "Listen ta me carefully, Abarai…. There's a reason I get ta act tha way I do."

"Oh?" There was a nervous gulp as he squimed a bit further away from her. "Why's that?"

"Only strong people get ta do wha' they want, ya know? If I didn't 'ave tha abilities I wouldn't been done 'ere in tha firs' place an' I certainly wouldn't 'ave been able ta get 'way wit' ever'thin' I do back in Seireitei."

Natsu maneuvered around the room again, leaving behind a very bewildered Renji who was looking at the empty space. His brown eyes flickered over to the group that was chuckling behind their mouths between morsels of food. He blinked a few times and then narrowed his eyes at the feeling of being left behind again. He glanced over to Tessai who was placing the sword right by the cabinet, and then back over to Kisuke who was practically waiting.

"Okay. I give."

"Give what, Abarai-san?" Kisuke sung out as he peered from underneath his hat at the bewildered face.

"What just happened? What's up with Kotomi?"

"I have no idea what you could be talking about Abarai-san. Natsu-san is a simple Shinigami~. She's here to improve her abilities that's why Tessai-san took away her zanpakuto."

"Look there's no way she could take care of an arrancar with just kido. Her level is just too low for that, Urahara - so cut the crap."

Kisuke flapped his face against his own face as he blinked at the red head who was growing increasingly angry from the look. He smirked slightly and then moved the fan over by his cheek as he swatted down at it with a new grin coming along. "How mean of your Abarai-san~. You should have much more faith in your team member."

"It's not that," Renji growled out as he slited his eyes at the man. "It's dangerous for her to be so unprepa—"

"You should calm down Abarai-dono… Natsu-dono is highly capable in the realm of kido," Tessai proclaimed as he carefully set his chopsticks down on the stand since he was finished with his food. "She is naturally gifted in that area."

"But—"

"As Tessai-san said, Abarai-san," Kisuke came through again. "Natsu-san would at least be able to buy time until one of us could get her zanpakuto to her."

Renji narrowed his eyes at the flimsy attitude and the newest excuse that the blonde was giving him. It wasn't that he hadn't noticed how the man was avoiding him. His own persistence kept him working for the man even as the questions were avoided, but he'd dog the blonde until he gave in. As for the other statements, he didn't know much. However, Tessai didn't seem disturbed at the idea that Kisuke had just promoted even with the threats going around the area.

He didn't know Natsu very well. He had heard brief mentions of her over the years from her strange interactions with Ikakaku and Yumichika, and the esteem that Izuru gave her as his 'senpai'. Though if he remembered correctly Izuru initially hadn't liked her all that much. Her work on Sokyoku Hill had been something but he didn't know what it had done. Either no one knew what was going on when he mentioned it, or the few that did didn't feel the need to go in depth about how her kido had worked. Namely Kuchiki-taicho hadn't uttered a word about what had happened. In total, her fight on Sokyoku Hill was the extent of her abilities that he had ever seen. He hadn't been able to watch any of her fight with the arrancar with her having defeated it before his own fight had finished, and all her training was strictly out of bounds of his eyes for some reason.

What only sparked his ire at her was the fact that he found out about how she was aware of what was going on the entire time. He wasn't sure if he was more upset about the betrayals overall and by proxy her since she had known that they were going to happen, or that he was angry directly at her for putting people in danger. He hadn't come to any conclusions yet.

While the details of what Aizen was doing came to light, there was a strange, vacuous amount of time given to Natsu's contributions. And to Urahara's contributions as well, which further annoyed the red-headed fukutaicho. Abarai only found out that Natsu had teamed with Urahara before the final betrayal because he had spoken to Izuru, who had drunkenly ranted about all of the events. When the blonde had begun to go off target, Renji brought him back with a few questions. The blonde had said something like forty years of time which was also apparently the whole time she had been a part of the Gotei 13, which in turn made the only reason she was part of the Gotei 13 at all was because of the knowledge she had about Aizen.

He stopped shoveling food in his mouth and then slithered his gaze back over to the blonde who after a bit of time looked up from the feeling of being watched. His words came out slow as he came through the formulation of his own idea, "she wasn't… always part of the gotei 13 was she?"

"My, my… You certainly are a dedicated one, Abarai-san~."

His eye twitched at the fluctuations in the blonde's tones. "You met her before this. She helped you. – She's definitely not a twentieth seat…. Maybe a fifth seat? - And she knows Gotei 13 well even though she's only been a part of it for forty years."

"I ha-"

"Where was she before she even went to the Gotei 13?" Renji voiced out though he knew from the ever slandering wide smile on the blonde's face he would never receive an answer from the blonde. "Who is she?"

* * *

 **A/N: Another done. Thank you to those who have chosen to follow and favorite the story. And thank you to those who have stuck around. Your continued support is wonderful!**

 **Thank you xXFallenSakuraXx52 for your review. Speaking of Kisuke, I was thinking of doing a small story with him and a OC... Would people be interested?**


	25. Chapter 24

Days passed with the same drill with a sort of relaxed air going through the stationed Shinigami. The only difference was the introduction of Sado Yasotora to the training ground. This meant Renji was destroying the ground with every single swing of his giant snake monster of a bankai and the human boy was causing equal amounts of havoc with his strange power. Natsu grumbled to the blonde man who took out time of their training to observe how the progress between the two males was going, although he did very little active participation. He responded with a typical, whimsical, musical note and patted on her shoulder to get her to share the space that she had claimed as her own.

Luckily her two coaches had separate projects for her to also work on. When she didn't want to deal with the two sweaty men at the bottom, she could be upstairs working with Kisuke or hidden away somewhere else in the large training area with Tessai. Kisuke's project was far more complicated, stifling their time spent on physical training, but it was equally important. He wanted to create a special seal to lock down the Hogyoku once it was released. It was an eventuality that seemed would pass with each tick of the clock and the countdown to the winter. Or at least that's what Kisuke told her, though she could hardly imagine how this would come about.

Tessai's activities, ironically, ended up being far more active than the sedentary investigating of Kisuke's project. The stern, gentle giant had her building up to preforming level 70 hadou without any incantation. If that goal was met in a timely manner, Tessai was already preparing her to start building to rising up to level 80. Her bakudo wasn't nearly as good, with her favoring the destructive forces of hadou, but he was also working on her getting up to a mid-60 level without incantations in the defensive demons arts. In addition, he was forcing her to take time out to figure out her own kido and seals, and improve on them.

Other than that she went on patrols or sometimes she joined up with Ikkaku and Yumichika to do other types of training. The bald man had been more than a little surprised but he took it in stride. They had clashed more in the past weeks than they had in the forty years and even the years prior to that. It always ended with her teetering over in exhaustion after no more than ten minutes maximum, which was a running joke for the bald man who could only best her in that one area.

"I'mma 'ungry," Natsu whined slightly up at the air as she loafed with her back along the top of a light pole and her feet pressed up against the center piece with her arms dangling down. "Sucks."

The day was passing quickly with the sun already angling to get back to sleep as she lay there. There was a splay of colors in the sky. It was mainly purple black blanketing the majority of the sky already, although there was a shade of red-orange that was forming a long, bright strip along the horizon at some point. The moon was already visible in a crescent shape that stapled the rest of the sky together with a darker color and a few stars that protruded through the cloudy sky. She let out a small hum with her brain as accompaniment, with her fingers lazily tracing out the tempo in slow circles as she went along with the light breeze in the air.

Her eyes normally would have been closed her eyes by now and she would have let sleep take her until a hollow decided to make a small spark. Under the blanket of her eyelids, however, all she could feel was the pulse of reiatsus that came wafting through the air. Because she had such a keen lock on the place in the warehouse district, her senses seemed to point her over and over in that direction every time her eyes shut.

The reiatsu sometimes would flare out so bright she could see the sun coming back again. Then the small trail of cinnamon would come beneath her nose and she have to close up her lungs before it became so potent. Her heart had leaped to her mouth the first couple of times, even under the cool mask she wore, but now she had gotten used to the feeling of the reiatsu again. Though brilliant, she could weave away from it so that it didn't sink in enough to leave her with that pulsing feeling; so that it wouldn't leave her deliriously stupid any longer.

She let out another hum and then twisted off the pole she was resting on. Her whole form bent over as she connected with the ground, forearms dragging along the ground as she crumpled over her knees, and then she came back up slowly. Her hand gripped onto the back of her head and gave it a slight scratch to get rid of the dent that seemed to have formed with the awkward way of resting. Her eyes began a small trail over the pet store that she was nearby and then she began her trudge back over to the shop across town as she felt Hitsugaya's reiatsu come out to start his patrol.

Along her way she made out a small bakery. Her stomach let out a loud growl and she patted it as she let out another sigh and then frowned. Along the window was a few shelves of the goods that it sold. It was a variety of different types of breads; some being savory like the one that looked plain on top and others being sweet with a white powder on top of it or having weird colors like purple or green. There were also things that looked like Western pastries with lots of fruits decorating the top and a custard filling in some sort of crust. It helped that everything had labels that she could read so she could see all the variety.

She squatted slightly in front of the store window as she made out how the cashiers were attending to the place and how the cash register worked as a person was paying. Her head cocked over to the side at the exchange of what she knew as money, but then she made out a weird box that came out so that the attendant could sort the money away. She had seen it several times but she had never been able to ask how the machine worked.

In Seireitei coins were still kept in pouches and the currency was very simple coins. There were only two kinds; gold coins or silver coins. Both had the same shape, with a square in the middle and kanji written around the side to symbolize the worth of the coin. The gold one was worth more while the silver was worth less, and everything had a rounded off value, unlike all the extra money that the human had to carry around. She had gotten a glimpse when Tessai attempted to explain it to her, but had balked immediately from the conversation when it became apparent that he was teaching her about the different papers and distinguishing them from the metal coins. Why learn it when she wouldn't be using it?

She scratched at her head slightly and then got back up from her position as she started to turn and go. She blinked several times as she came face to face with black and at once thought maybe she had slipped into her zanpakuto's world. The thought was displaced when she received a rather harsh growl from the lion whose hairs had been raised to spikes along its body and her eyes roved up slightly. Before she could really see a face, she felt herself getting grasped by the forearm. She took in the small flurry as she let herself be carried and tugged around the corner away from the bakery.

As soon as her feet touched the ground she backed up with a jump and emptied her narrowed eyes on the figure before her. Her eyes wandered over the black shoes and then up the long legs clad in black trousers. There was a white untucked shirt which had ruffles all down the center where the buttons were, but there was a black jacket on top. Her eyes flickered over to the sleeves to see the white peaking over the rolls as the sleeves of both were kept to the middle of the forearms. Then she jumped up to see a wide collar around a pointed chin.

She stopped for a moment on the straw colored hair that fell down past his shoulders. For just a second her heart pounded before she chanted that it was wavy. Too much so. It was also just the wrong shade of blonde with it being too flaxen than the normal sunshine type of yellow she was used to. She jerked from her thoughts as she took in the long face and then finally came to light tapioca eyes which were half hidden behind lazily opened eyes. To finish the bewildering casual look was drawn back eyebrows that slopped the opposite direction of his nose.

 _Oh…. Fuck._

 _… You don't sound very angry or even annoyed._

 _No. I am, jus'…. Toda' really sucks._

There was a part of her that was definitely throwing more of a tantrum with its feet stomping with the beat of her heart. She could imagine those deep thrusting words and the papers flung at the closed door that never opened up again. The screams into the pillow and the beating down of her own bed as she flomped around to gain something other than the intense pain radiating from inside her. Broken promises shattered along the floor mixed in the glass that she had broken half by accident, and the long, torrential sobs that she had been reduced to years ago.

It was that same kid brewing back up inside her again like the time that she had seen Kisuke again for the first time. Even in her injured state she had wanted to kill the man and rip his innards violently to watch as she took a sword in hand and split open his heart. It was that same child that had Sekhmet simulatneously growling and purring, unsure about the right reaction to have to the situation. It was that same child that she pounded down with her fist instantly as she formed a glare and her fingers started to twitch under the anticipation of what this stranger might do.

"Ya goin' ta talk?"

He blinked and his mouth came into a slight pursued frown before he was holding up a bag in his arm. "You appeared hungry, Shinigami."

Her eyes narrowed down more as she twitched her eyes between the bag and his resumed disinterested expression. Slowly she rounded out to her full height even though she had no intentions of moving as she continued her look at the man's face. It was long and angular with a certain striking to it in almost dramatic flare of intensity and strength. His lips curled into a damp but easy and thin smile and his eyebrows pushed up in that curious flare. Still, his eyes remained half lidded and steady on her even as he offered out the bag again.

 _… I see._

 _What Natsu?_

 _He reminds me a bit of Kyoraku._

 _Not even using your accent?_

 _He don't got 'is sword on 'im either so tha's a good sign._

He hadn't made a single move under the scrutiny although his arm had flopped back down under the light weight. His other was stuffed into a pocket but it wasn't bunched up which meant that he wasn't bothered or frustrated with the situation. His body was also slanted slightly as he rested his weight onto one foot over the other. The complete air of nonchalance was played off by the easy control over his reiatsu. There was a thin trail that he let her feel so that she was at least aware of it but the blonde haired man had purposely offset it to keep himself from appearing as a threat.

She moved over to the bag again and saw a few of the breads she had seen at the bakery in them. She grimaced slightly which accurately reflected the twist in her stomach. There was always something to underlie the actions of this man but she couldn't quite pick it out just yet even as her stomach swirled around with anxious precognition. There was a nervousness of what might happen should she accept, but how much would it say if she also declined it.

Her face fell again and she let out a long, audible sigh and ended up falling into a squat. She rested her elbows on top of her knees as she let one hand flopped over to drag along the ground beneath and the other hand went up to support her head. She tilted her head slightly downwards letting the fence break open just a bit so that he could squeak by if he squirmed around a bit.

He blinked a few times, a sight she saw through her fringe, before edging a bit closer to her and then squatting as well. He was just a bit closer than full arm length but with his arm length it was still far enough away to give each other a decent size bubble of personal space. He reached just a bit across and dropped the bag more onto her side before retracting back towards his body. His eyes still steady on her the whole way through.

She slunk one finger through one of the loops in the plastic material and then dragged it closer to her slowly. There was the snap of plastic as it reacted with the air, and a weird skidding sound she had never heard before with the way the plastic ran over the ground. It was like a "shuke" sound - a weird type of hiss - except when it caught along some of the groves in the ground where it breathed before popping slightly. Her finger slunk a bit more around the white loop and then hoisted it into the air so no holes would appear and contaminate the food.

When the bag was finally resting between her legs she peered down to the contents. She made out the glossy tan tops of the different breads. Her lips moved before she really knew what she was saying. "Whacha get?"

"I assumed you hadn't tried many of them so I just bought an assortment."

"Ya get tha' 'ole store or somethin' 'cause this is a lot." She raised an eyebrow at the faint smile that was playing his lips before he shrugged innocently. "Ya really want ta be spendin' money on a girl like me… Strange fella, ain't cha?"

Her hands drifted down and then picked up a rotound one that was weighted heavier than she thought. It had a flaky topping though it held pretty sturdy even though it slightly crunched under her fingers. When she squeezed down a bit more she could feel the heat coming from inside of it and there was something lumpy in a few placed. She eased off the pressure when she saw something a bit dark edging up along the seam of the bread.

She shrugged slightly and then bite into it slowly suckling on the juices that had spilling out. Her eyes narrowed at the sensations and the vibrant tastes as she drank in the curry that was coming out. When she finally tore away she chewed heartily on the bread which gave the curry a slightly sweeter taste before the spiciness of the pork curry came through and ran along her mouth. As she chewed away, she licked slightly at the small drop that had come along the bottom lip and then looked up to see the man starting to let out a slow whistle with his head going off to the side in some sort of daydream.

"Whatta ya think says 'bout me fo' acceptin' food from a guy like ya?"

He flickered his gaze slightly from the corner of his eye and appraised her words. "I think it might mean you were hungry."

"Che." She puffed out a breath and then fashioned a smirk along her face that had his head turning over to her more. "Tha' ain't flatterin' at all… Ya could of least made up some excuse. I know I ain't much ta look at, but still."

"How about… I was inspired by your keen look through the window?" He supplied with a small flick of his hand. "I could have written a song about it."

"Oh? Tha's pretty good." Natsu nodded with lazy flops of her hand as she managed her last bite of bread. "Spiff it up a bit an' ya'll get all tha' ladies… Cut tha part 'bout food an' add somethin' 'bout 'er eyes or somethin'."

He let out a small hum, and she went back to sorting through the bag. Her eyes flickered up at him and then dangled the bag out to him. "Want one?"

"I bought them for you." She perked a brow at his response before flicking her wrist up and down which had the bag rattling. He glanced at it before digging through and pulling one out. "Compared to your initial reaction you're being very kind now."

"Ya coulda jus' said thanks… No need ta be so mean."

"Thanks."

Her eyes fell over to the side as her hand went into the bag on its own and dragged out a new food to try and she grumbled to the wall, "no point when I tol' ya ta do it ya know?"

"You know," he resigned out and her eyes glanced back at him, "you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"Eh?"

"You'll catch someone's eye one day."

Natsu blinked a few times and paused in bringing the food up to her mouth. Her eyes raked over the somber seriousness on his face and then blanched. Her teeth clenched closed and her eyes went back over to the side as her head ticked after it. He had taken her statement way too seriously and she couldn't stand the sight of his face any longer. Part of her wanted to burst out into laughter at the thought that she had ever been concerned with falling in love. Never once in the past years had she considered falling in love with another. There was a small bubble in her lips that was just about ready to burst if she went down that road. The other part of her dried up all the good feeling and fled into a corner at the thought of having this conversation with someone like him. The conversation was in a weird way so intimately connected to herself and at the same time a complete stranger.

 _I… can't believe this. I'mma so bad wit' people like this._

 _You're not bad with Kyoraku._

 _Kyoraku's much more in tune. This guy should be more aware of ma humor._

 _… Is that a confession, Natsu?_

Natsu jerked from her thoughts abruptly and then stopped a small snark along her lips even though she fell back to her normal mask. She took in the daze in the man's eye and came to the decision that he lived with a foot planted firmly on another planet. Perhaps, sarcasm and her odd humor couldn't translate into the language he used. Even if he really should have gotten used to it.

"I ain't knockin' maself." A small trip went up to her brain and she found herself smirking again at the new thought in her head. "I jus' know… Look nothin' like tha women in ma family. I got tha' bad genes, ya know? "

There was an inchoke as if he had breathed in a bit too much steam, although his food had none at all, and then a small splutter of laughter as he covered up his lips to stop food from flying out. His shoulders hunched over and he covered up his face though his shoulders jostled a bit too much. She watched with her head sinking down into her neck and a small bit at the bread which gushed out more red bean paste as her fingers wrapped tightly around the bread she was holding.

Finally he tilted back up and swallowed before sliding a gentle smile along his face which carved out a long line along his face. She blinked at the sight of the easy smile and how it instantly brightened up the dazed expression on his face as he was peering at her. He actually appeared just the slightest bit more carefree with the guards that he had been wearing waning from the laughter.

"I'm certain your father looks just fine," he stated with a small nod. Just as she was about to open her mouth he continued on in consideration. "Though perhaps he does appear a bit odd."

Natsu gave a slow jerk of her head as she popped the last bit of her dessert into her mouth and then stood. Her hands clapped a few times to get rid of crumbs and then slotted into her pockets as she looked down at him. "See ya later."

He glanced at the bag that was now closer to him without her avid protection of the plastic and then peered up at her with a tiny twitches of his head. There was a deep furrow there as he eyes opened up just that much more. "Your food?"

"Nah," Natsu called from behind her as she continued on her way up to the roof tops with a slow walk. "Don't waste ya money on a stranga…. But thanks."

Her feet stopped just before she could push off and fling over to the direction of the Shoten and turned down at the blonde man. Her eyes sharpened in on the call and she clenched up her hands from the spray of her name from his tongue. She let out the lash. "Wha?"

"We know tha-"

"I know," she snarked as she twisted her head back around for just a second to reign in a breath to cool out her body. "Tha's why they sent ya ain't it? - I ain't dumb."

"Tha—"

"Ol' people are such a hassle ta deal wit'. They talk too much…. Go back an' tell 'em I ain't tha problem." She twisted her head back around as she steeled over all her expressions. From the distance she couldn't make out any of his expressions but she knew that he was ready to jump. "If tha's all ya goin' ta say than ya should leave me be too."

Her lion reared its ugly head and there was a tremendous shattering as she flung away from the distant reflection on the ground. Behind her was nothing but a wall, similar to that orange barrier that she had come across by accident during her fight. That distinct orange color that was a symbol of something just a little bit deeper than merely being a shield to the people behind it. There was no way for her to press forward without seeming like a trespasser. Yet... That pull was always coming from that wall. The only way of backing out was, ironically, down the road on the other side of that barrier. Through a place that she had come a long time ago and she had no desire to return to.

She tore clear through the air like it was something that she could ingest in and then regurgitate back out. Her claws came out to push her forward at a momentum she didn't even know existed for her, while her head was letting out long roars. She sunk into the deep abyss with her hackles up and her fangs bare as she dug and tugged and ripped and destroyed. She gripped it so tight that in doing so she became so human again and naked as the day she was born. A glass image of herself which quickly shattered beneath her fingers. It was glass broken along the floor and flung away carelessly; only the remains of small, sparkling shards were left in the trenches of her palms and her fingers as the rest got swept away.

When she got to the Shoten, Kisuke was popping his head out from the dining room area. His gray eyes blew onto her a wanted heat and she took him by the collar. They watched each other with the others swarming around in the back, a note she took in from the corner of her eye. Flung only into a space that they had been once before as they eyed each other's moves and tried to anticipate the actions before they could go out and strike.

"Kotomi?"

Her head jerked over towards Renji who was watching the interaction with swiveling eyes and tense shoulder muscles. She slackened her grip just slightly from the blonde man before she released the shoten owner altogether. She immediately took up the space behind her as she pacified the situation by herself. The red head didn't relax, probably thinking that it might have to do with Soul Society. It was only when she shook her head and waved him off that he slunk back into the shadows and left the two of them to their death match.

"Natsu-sa—"

"Nevamind," Natsu wrangled out as she jostled through her hair. She proceeded over towards the stairway. "I'mma tired."


	26. Chapter 25

A coincidental, intense rage consumed her from the inside out for the next few days. A monster carving a hole through her chest and stomach laid her prone and strapped to the bed that she had borrowed from Kisuke when she first arrived. She swarmed herself in all the blankets she could find only to push them off of herself moments later, and then try to pull them back on again. Most times she missed, with her hand, blind and shaking, waving through the air to find her blankets. Sometimes she gave up the pursuit halfway through. Her head twisted into the pillow to suffocate the groans and whines as she squirmed along the futon like it was a disaster site beneath her and completely uncomfortable to her touch. She couldn't tell anymore what jibberish fell from her mouth, what she cried out, or if sweat became tears at some point.

It surprised her in that delirious sort of way at the beginning, when she stared back at people who marveled at her as if she was a specimen. When the wide eyed expression went back to intense pain, she gave up caring at the shock she had induced. She could barely remember who had even entered her room, though she remembered Tessai from the calloused hand that roved her forehead. By the time Tessai had gotten everybody out of the room, she was swallowed back into that euphoric state of unconsciousness. Upon seeing her condition, the gentle giant immediately started to enter the room without permission and would change the bedding, her clothes, swab down her skin, or make sure that she was replacing her fluids. No one else disturbed her except for the small times when Ururu would come in to give her food, which she was never able to eat.

With her sense of time all but gobbled away in her sickness, she could only place the time at morning when her eyes flickered open. Sekhmet whispered gently through her ears as her head limply tossed around for a moment. As she got up from bed, she could feel most of her mind leaving her behind as it stayed on the pillow. Her muscles stretched so long that they jumbled her entire body and made her forget how long her limbs were as she came up short on a lot of steps. This tossed her over her feet most times as she shifted her weight. She felt like wet clay beneath her skin with water still exuding under every pound of a fist. She was mutable and barely carved out under hands that were desperately trying to shape her quivering mass into some semblance of a person. She was wrapped into a porous cloth that was loosely bound around her frame leaving her to tremor at the hardening in the oven, and the heat that surrounded her from the inside out.

She quaked under her skin down to her very organs which twisted up tightly at the unwanted movements of her steps. She was semi-conscious enough to cling tightly to a handrail as she made her way down the stairs without falling, letting her knees knock together to create a pillar of support beneath her. She honed in on the sound of spaying liquid somewhere off in the house and began to follow rush of what was most likely running water.

"K - Kotomi?"

"Water," she whispered out as she sunk down against the closest counter. A chill ran down her spine as she sat against the wood, and then she was swamped into humidity again feeling the trek of more than a few sweat drops running all over her again. "Wa-"

"Here."

Her head was pushed back slightly from a force underneath her and her lips belatedly realized that a glass was there when she felt the smooth force against them. Something fluid slithered past her mouth and down her throat and drenched everything in her. She spluttered a bit at the sudden intrusion as if she turned to smoke with her fire suddenly being put out with the merciless water. Her head fell back and banged against the cabinets as she hacked up clouds of black from her lungs for a long moment.

Her head dropped back down falling down towards her chest as she sunk over to the side just slightly. Everything pulsed as she huffed out steam from her nose until it turned gray, when she picked her head up again. "More."

A hand came around her bicep and she glanced at the red-brown eyes that were peering at her closely. She let out another cough which rapidly spluttered into a long tirade of chokes and hacks from her lungs again. Through the moment she barely noticed as she was slipped somewhere else until she felt heated, yet completely cool, skin. Her face turned towards it and she was pressed up against a thick bone and nuzzled down into it. Just for a moment longer she would remember that glossed hand on her back and her hair again, before she wiped away to clean the surface of her memory.

"Mo' wata," she voiced out again.

The voice above her grunted slightly but the cup never came. "I think I should get Tes-"

"They'll jus' give me wata… Don't know wha's goin' on so tha's all they'll do. Wata."

"Kotomi do you know what type of shape you're in right now?"

She nodded up against the bone and blindly reached out for something to grasp onto. Preferably the hand that held the cup of water. "I's ol' news fo' me…. Since chil'ood. 'Appens."

Renji paused on the slurred wording and down at the woman that was awkwardly against his chest and collarbone. He had caught her as she slipped down and now he had one arm around her shoulders to keep her from sliding along the floor further. His eyes narrowed down at the soggy skin beneath his grip, beads of sweat slipping through the cracks of his fingers as if he had wrung her skin dry like a sodden towel. She radiated a blistering heat of a furnace, her head flopping unsteadily as it tried to stand up erect on its own neck but kept giving way under the weight of exhaustion and fever. Her hand caught onto his wrist, coiling quickly, before he slowly slide from her weak grasp, mindful of the glass of water he was holding for her, and watched as the hand fell limp to her lap.

He roved over the loose garments she was wearing, being nothing but short shorts and a tank top, and then along the sweat that had added a second layer to everything about her. Her fringe was swamped over to one side as it stuck together using all the sweat as gel, and then stuck there as if it was waiting to be fixed properly. The black smoke from her lungs which she was still breathing out with every pant of her crippled chest was reminiscent of the ash that spluttered of dying fire.

He set the cup off to the side on the ground, and then shifted the woman around until she was pressed more firmly against the cupboards. He kept his hand along her shoulder, feeling the jutting bones, and then reached back for the cup. Her eyes caught his in that delirious half-lidded expression as he pushed another small gulp down her lips. When she didn't splutter for the second time, he tipped a bit more in.

He didn't know what was wrong with her having suddenly woken up in this state. She had gotten into some sort of fight with Kisuke, although it appeared resolved and personal by now. His eyes locked onto the slowly shutting eyes of his fellow shinigami as they took in more water, and remembered the intensity of her rage that evening of the confrontation that seemed to pour out of her like the sweat was doing now. It was that indignant spark in them that made him know it was personal business by the end of the stare down. Then something settled across her face. She was suddenly the person he recognized again except with just a bit more exhaustion.

He let out a small sigh as he tipped the last of the water into Natsu's mouth. His eyes were quickly snatched from watching her face to the at the long limbs that were beginning to quiver and pucker in the cold. A frown crossed over his lips at the drastic change in conditions and looked up to find that her face had scrunched up and a small whine was toppling from somewhere in the back of her throat. Her head had fallen back down towards her chest and she was, as silently as possible, trying to move through the motions of pain.

Renji stretched up and tipped the empty glass onto the counter, before he swooped back down and took the woman up into his arms. Natsu emitted a small groan as he started his steps out of the kitchen and he flashed a look down to see the growing contortion of her face and the deep crevices from the pain. There was still something polished from the way she was holding herself, probably from the way she could cover up the intense agony of whatever she was going through. Renji narrowed his eyes at that, cataloging the new piece of information that he had siphoned from her. She had mentioned that it had happened since childhood, and that no one in the house knew about it which meant she didn't have a connection with the household that far back.

"Kotomi have you always been alone?" He whispered out as he made his way up the last step. He had never heard of Izuru or Ikakku mentioning this, and as far as he knew she didn't have too many friends either. "Is there anyone that could help you?"

He jerked down at her own unsteady, slurred whisper, "no…. 'e's gone 'way."

He stopped above the futon and took in the sweat patches that were everywhere, and then the much scrunched up pillow which she must have torn into through what he assumed was the more painful bouts of pain. He slowly knelt down and then placed the gangling, made worse by her lame and prone limbs, woman down along the futon. She immediately slithered into a tight coil and stuffed her nose down into the mattress. Renji made out the rivets of tension that were going through her and let out a sigh before draping the sheet back over her to give her the privacy that she seemed to seek.

When he got to the hall and clanked the door shut, he found Tessai was already waiting with his arms crossed in his usual fashion. Renji flickered his eyes over to the side and then scratched at his cheek for a small moment. "She came down to the kitchen for water… Can't you do something for her? She looks like she's in real pain."

"There's nothing I can do for Natsu-dono unfortunately," Tessai explained as the two went back down to the ground level. "It appears that it is something well beyond my reach… She told me not to bother with trying to use kaido."

"She's mentioned she's had this since she was a child."

Tessai picked up the glass and brought it over to the sink so that he could wash it immediately. She didn't have anything contagious but Renji could assume that it was just a precaution. Actually, she reminded him slightly of how some from division thirteen had described their captain when he had gotten into his worse fits. Yet, it was obviously not the captain's disease and something completely different. Particularly with the way that her reiatsu had been flaring up and down for days now. Even Ichigo would know that it was a reiatsu based condition by now.

"Natsu-dono is probably more than well equipped to handle it herself."

"You seem to entrust a lot over to her even though you barely know her."

Tessai peered over his shoulder and then resumed wandering around the kitchen to collect things for breakfast. He didn't pause in his work as he spoke, "while it may be true that we've only known her sporadically over the course of forty years…. She has proven herself of such trust."

"So you do nothing while she's in pain," Renji jammed out, surprising himself with the note of bitterness that was carried through. His finger thrust over his shoulder even though he knew that the large man couldn't see it, nor could he do anything about the condition of the other Shinigami.

"It is not that I don't wish to help her, Abarai-dono. It is that I can't." Tessai reminded with a small glance over his shoulder again. "Whatever is wrong with her is well over my level of expertise in medicine."

"Maybe I should call Sei-"

"Do you think she would forgive you if you did so?" Tessai cut through as he finally turned around to be the mountain like man he was as he issued more pressure on his words. "Besides it is more likely they sent her despite that. Do you really think that Unohana-dono doesn't know about the condition that Natsu-dono is in?"

Renji's words truly paused for just a moment before he shook his head. "Unohana-taicho is too kind for that. If she knew what Natsu was going through then she wouldn't have sent her."

"This is a time of war, Abarai-dono, and it is more than likely that Unohana-dono sent Natsu-dono here because of her use and connection with us at the Shoten, regardless of the implications of her health."

"Are you saying that Unohana-taicho sent someone dying to die?" Renji narrowed his eyes and stood up a bit straighter to bite back.

Tessai turned back over as he shook his head. "Natsu-dono will not die and I meant no offense to the captain… I mean that Natsu-dono has a use far beyond her weakened state - a state that is merely inhibiting."

Renji let out a deep sigh and his head tilted back slightly. There was a soft chopping sound as the knife met the cutting board with swoops through the air between them. The rest of the house was slowly getting up with the tiniest patter of feet to the bathroom. As the sun was coming in stronger outside, the warmth of the house was slowly growing more intense as the air was moving more avidly around the house. With each body beginning to scurry and wander wherever it wanted, new wafts of air were equally beginning to push around to heat up the cold house.

His mind briefly flashed to the girl that was probably still curled up tight and the sweat that was dripping through her down onto the soaked bed. His skin still felt hot from having just carried her for just those few minutes, and his arms that he had unconsciously crossed at some point during his meanderings fell a bit slack from across his chest. There was just a small pick in his heart at the new sympathy of a girl that was suffering, and his eyes dropped back down to the ground.

"How long has she been alone?"

Tessai stopped in his walk to the fridge at looked at him. Renji found himself blinking along with the man as the words were swept up in the small storm between them. There was a moment of intense scrutiny under the overlooking eyes, shaded by the way light reflected along his glasses, but there was no way of taking back to the words. Nor would Renji have thought of doing that.

The large man was backing off in the next moment, blinking eyes becoming visible to mask the true intended message behind his uttered statement. "I'd presume about one hundred years Abarai-dono."

The red-head found his teeth clenching and then he looked down to the ground. Even in the darkest days in the 78th district he had always had his friends and Rukia. That pain had never lasted one hundred years. Surely, watching his friends die hadn't been the most pleasant but he had never been truly alone to deal with his pain. He let out a long string of curses in his head and then set off to the other room to leave the large man alone in his cooking.

* * *

She slumped up against the wall as she scrolled over the book that Kisuke had shipped into her hands. Her fingers toiled over the top tip of the page and flicked it back and forth as she wandered over the words. Slowly she dumped her head up against the wall and let out a long sigh at the imposition of all the words on her brain and the sorting of her thoughts.

"Kisuke why I gotta do this?" She whined out slightly as she looked at him from the bottom of her eyes. He peeked over at her slightly and then resumed his work. "Ya jus' bein' lazy, ain't ya?"

"Why of course not Natsu-san~"

"Che… Liar."

In theory Kisuke would need help with seals, but he was a genius. It didn't slip her notice that he had about several different projects going on at one time and her help was probably doing little to aid or support his research. It was probably more to give her something to do that was relatively beneficial. It was less rigorous than working on her kido with Tessai and it made up for the eighteen hours of sleep that she had been getting to recover from her sickness. It was a constant presence that she could still feel even now, and she was sure the rest of the house was also aware of it with the way they were making sure not to sit too close to her during their meals together.

"Natsu-san," she peeked again at the man's call and saw that he was already facing her with a serious look on his face. "What do you think of Inoue-san?"

"She's a cutie."

"Yes I quite agree~," Kisuke chimed as he let a grand smile spread before dropping it back down. "I meant in term of her healing abilities."

"I's useful. Why?"

"And her personality?"

Natsu narrowed her eyes and then shifted up from the wall until she was finally on her feet and was able to walk closer to the table that he was working on. Kisuke inhabited a lot of different rooms in the shop; many of them already filled with gadgets and objects that he had worked on or was currently working on. This was arranged similarly to the dining room with a large, circular table in the center that he always sat at. There were more cupboards that he used to hold everything, and for the most part everything was relatively clean and dust free.

She settled by the table and slumped onto it as she took in the grave face that he barely ever adorned. It only meant that he was considering doing something different and was considering the next step. From the gravity of his words, she'd probably say that he was about to make a step that might cause a bit of tension. Particularly if it had to do with Orihime.

"Not much of fightin' 'terial… Though I can't really say tha'." Natsu put out and took in the sliver of steel that came along the man's eyes before they ducked into the shadows of his hat. "But determined 'nough…. Got pretty good sense too."

Kisuke let out a small hum and then his thumbs twirled around at the screwdriver in his hands as he bolted something together. There was a thin press of his lips that he wasn't able to cover up which never left even as he spoke. "Would you say that her abilities might be matched by those of the fourth division?"

"Tha's a stupid question."

A smirk filtered across his face before he nodded slightly. Natsu felt her own face falling down and she let out a dreary sigh. From the line of questioning she could probably guess where all this was going. The orange-head would probably take it sitting down, though Natsu could already imagine all the tears in her face as they swamped her eyes and trailed down her cheeks.

"Sucks… Ya gonna be a meanie." Natsu shipped her down to the desk and jutted her chin down onto the wood as she looked up at the blonde. "Ya got tha' in ya I suppose... War's makin' ya inta a real meanie."

"How cruel, Natsu-san~" Kisuke immediately whined back and looked as if he had been slapped with his appalled expression. "I have been nothing but kind to you…"

"Whateva…. I'll back ya if ya need it." Natsu waved off before pushing up from the table and going to leave the room. "Nigh' ol' man."

"I'm not old, Natsu-san."

Natsu stuck a finger into her ear and clanked the door behind her. "Che… Ol' men tend ta garble like ya all tha time."

Kisuke's response went unheard as she meandered down the hall with a few grumbles. Hard stuff was just not her forte and it always seemed to be what was dumped onto her shoulders as of late. Even her sleep and eating habits had been disturbed by everything going on around her and in her. It was probably a good thing that she was getting a bit more relaxing time, although it meant that she got plated with using her brain instead.

 _Tha's always so much more work._

 _… I suppose this is what the Sou-taicho was referring to during your meeting with him._

 _Shuddup._

 _People are relying on you Natsu._

 _Ya really suck… Jus' stay silent._

The weight on her shoulders increased ten fold as she slumped down towards the entrance of the shop. The night was already pitch black with those ever seen stars that could pop through even the thickest of clouds or the dark blanket around them. Her stomach clenched up in the revulsion of what was going on around her and she wished she could spit out the bad taste in her mouth. Nothing would help to drag away that ever present scent or that lingering taste. Everything turning to ash about her or was becoming a boiling pot, foam frothing over the top and into the burning flames, because she just couldn't control it all.

She blew out a long stream of air and emptied out her lungs to get rid of the feelings taunting her. Her shoulders sunk down heavily into their normal slouch and she tapped at her cheeks with her long fingers before stretching them about. In doing so she re-arranged the mask on her face and let her eyes droop into half-lids and her mouth to stay open. It hadn't crumbled at all in the days but every now and again she felt like she had to focus on reapplying it and was very conscious of it.

She let out a small hum and then sought out the small device in her sleeve that was letting out a small ring. "Wha's up?" She called down to the one end as the other small port was up by her ear to hear through. "She's gone?"

"Yeah… Hitsugaya-taicho just got the call from Seireitei noting her sudden absence." Renji called back through with a slight growl. "That woman is nuts… How the hell did she get through the onmitsukido?"

"Who knows… Looks like i's gonna by a long night." Natsu smirked down and scuffed her foot against the ground. "Ya take firs' shift lookin' fo' 'er an' then I'll take tha second wit' any o' tha others."

"Works out fine since I'm already out."

The device was placed back into her sleeve and Natsu let out a small snicker. Yuko would be making her way over to Kisuke undoubtedly with a mission. Her eyes roved back into the darkness with a small flicker of thought before she shrugged. It was just too much work to go back up the stairs and warn the blonde man. Instead she had to find a place far enough away and lower her reiatsu so that she could maintain an eye on the ex-con.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the delay! To make up for it, I'm hoping to publish another chapter this week, so fingers crossed that happens.**

 **Hope everyone is continuing to enjoy _Dynasty_. Shout out to the new readers who have liked/favorited and followed the story. Welcome! **

**Remember to comment/review/question/say 'hello' or I'm also available by pm. Whatever makes you feel most comfortable.**


	27. Chapter 26

Natsu let out a long sigh which seemed to rub against her throat as it came rushing from her chest and through her mouth. She squinted her eyes through the steam that was rising in front of her, slowly starting to clench and loosen her fist to get rid of the sparks of strain she could feel. Her eyes drifted over to Tessai, before loosely thrusting her thumb where she knew his keen eyes were watching. "Tha'… Good?"

There was a long trail of translucent, burning yellow still blazing behind her shoulder. The ground had been simultaneously upturned and sunk as a long, thin crater was created. It flipped the earth so that two, vertical walls were erected above what was the ground line. At the same time, the kido had created what almost appeared as, if the ground was cut in half, a deep cavern crafted along the once smooth surface of the training grounds. She had never used hadou 78 before and had only studied it very briefly during her time in the Kido Corps. The damage the offensive kido had created, therefore, was something amiss to her. What she just did could have been either positive or negative depending on how it was truly supposed to be recreated.

She winced slightly as the skin around between her knuckles began to crack and split. Soft grumbles fell from her lips as she began to poke at the seething red that was coming from the dirt stained and muscle straining hand. Having been working on hadou for more than a few hours now, there was obvious wear along her body. The strain that dashed up her forearm was near that impenetrable state that was only fixed by a deep-muscle massage and gentle stretching to help facilitate healing around the micro-tears. Honestly, Natsu couldn't remember the last time that she had practice any kido until she could feel the remainders in her body. Maybe it had been sometime during her academy days just before the selection exams for the Kido Corps were being held. Those had been awfully long nights for her.

The large man who was her new coach quickly sealed the growing cut off with kaido as he forced her attention back to him. "It's a bit weak Natsu-dono. However the effect is correct."

She nodded slightly and let out a loud sigh. There was a sudden silence across the training ground and she turned over to the more open area of the training grounds to see that Orihime had arrived. From what Natsu could see, the orange-headed girl was once again stood nervously with her arms folded awkwardly in front of her. Natsu could fill in the rest of the picture of the soft, school girl with her one knee most likely bent so that it was inclined towards her other standing leg and her eyes falling toward the ground. That school girl pretense always got the best of Orihime's image when the human looked most nervous, even when she was stupifyingly smart for someone who had the quirks of a ditsy, young child.

Yoruichi stood slightly behind the orange haired girl with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. It had been some time since Natsu had seen the feline but the ex-captain had been running her own training program to get back into shape and to speed up her recovery process. Not that it was something that Natsu rightly recommended to someone who was dealing with micro-fractures, but who was she to stop the ex-captain. The cat had only arrived home last night from wherever she had been, and lucky for her the end of her independent training had aligned very well with Yuko's visit. However, it appeared that Kisuke hadn't discussed the matter of Orihime with the feline or had had the time to do so, as a hard cover seemed to come over the woman's face with the passing time.

From the reacting of the two men, particularly the urgency of Chad, Natsu could already deduce that Kisuke had pulled the plug on the Orihime project. It had only been last night that he was thinking about it but after the grand reveal of Aizen's true purpose to create a soul key it seemed that he had finalized his decision. Decisions like that had to be made. War was the only likely end to the situation, and Orihime wasn't really suited for direct combat. Not in the same way that those at the fourth division were, at least.

 _There's probably somethin' else too, but tha' don't matta much._

Natsu's eyes dropped down to the floor and she ran a hand over the top of her Mohawk as the shouting intensified. Her honey, red burnt eyes scrunched closed when the wavering urgency continued. And as the dreariness of the situation truly set in, marked by the growing, stifling silence, she slumped down into a crouch; closing herself into a tight space along the ground. She said she'd have Kisuke's back but she supposed she didn't even have the heart to rip something from someone else. She could never want to picture that amount of disillusionment on some other face, nor be the one to shatter everything.

 _It is why you wanted to become a h-_

 _Shut up!_

She grumbled out a few sentences under her breath as she scratched at her head before righting out her position. She couldn't get back down there. The smoke from the other day had burned through the rest of her ignorance of the growing cracks in her walls. It was done, Natsu had to remind herself of that several times when her thoughts began to drift. It was all burnt away. She wouldn't allow herself to get back down there. No matter if she felt like it, or if there was a child in her that was gripping onto just the smallest tether left of her memories. Her lion would chew what was left down and it would disappear into nothing like it had years before. Because it had been gone, Natsu reminded herself again.

 _Are you sure it was ever gone?_

 _Shud up._

Her eyes trailed over the quickly vanishing Orihime and then turned back to Tessai who was an ever patient statue. His focus hadn't even been bothered by the occurring predicament, as he stayed resolutely focused on making sure she didn't collapse in exhaustion. "I'mma good now. Le's continue."

"Very well, Natsu-dono. The usage of your reiryoku and how best to form it will be something that you must do in your own time... Which is why I would rather focus on your original technique."

"Huh?" Natus blinked a few times and then narrowed her eyes. "Yoruichi tell ya o' somethin'?"

"Yes."

"Listen Tessai…. I don't care fo' tha technique so I ain't do-"

"My apologies Natsu-dono." Tessai cut through with a stern palm up and facing her. She blanched immediately at the reminder of Ayako and how that woman would have disciplined her by now with a harsh twist of her ear. She could already make out the throbbing of her poor ear at the remembrance of the sensation. "You have been gifted with two souls, Natsu-dono. You can no longer reject that."

"But—"

"Absolutely not. It's time for you to fully develop all aspects of your power regardless of your skepticism towards them."

Natsu rolled her head up to the blue sky above her and let out a long winding sigh. "I suck wit' dealin' wit' people like ya Tessai."

"Then it's a very good thing that you have me as your teacher, Natsu-dono," Tessai quipped back instantly and urged them a bit further along the training grounds to a new, clean area. It just so happened to be even further away from the other four. "Let's start."

* * *

Natsu could feel the way her fingers lightly brushed against her biceps as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and then let those long tendrils of tendons hand limply in the air. The weight of her arms fell heavily along her torso as she kept them loosely cradled there. A long, caustic smirk dragged along her face as she popped her head down against the door frame that she decided to lean her weight on. Whilst her eyes stayed half shut in their usual, nonchalant position, she was sure that there was a glimmer of pure amusement running through them by the twitch that was edging her lips just a bit longer into a Cheshire grin. The flash in the other woman's eyes was no doubt a confirmation to the fact as Natsu settled more into the door frame, only giving a half-hearted shrug to the woman from her position. It was only when the room had settled into a warmer moment that she let her feet slide along the modern flooring of Orihime's apartment.

"Tsk tsk," Natsu jibbed at Yuko as she stopped just before the shorter woman. Automatically her form slumped a bit further and her hands found their way into her pockets as she rounded over her own torso. "Ya got yaself caught."

"I wasn't hiding necessarily."

"I 'oped ya 'bilities got betta than this."

Yuko quirked a small eyebrow, her obsidian eyes working their way between Natsu's auburn and honey ones. A small moment of intrigue sparked, a fizzle of connection between the two women, before the former prisoner nodded slowly at the hinted meaning. "They'll get better from now on."

"Tha's a'righ' then." Natsu nodded as she patted down on the woman' shoulder slightly. "Tol' ya can't go dyin' on me."

"Of course not, Natsu."

The two women shifted over at the suddenly open senkaimon. With one small glance at one another, the older of the pair made her way over to the glowing doorway that would led back to her semi-imprisonment. Rukia shifted on her feet right by the open portal, measuring the shrinking distance between her and the ex-con. A slightly nervous look began to creep along her face as the ex-con approached and finally came to stand right by her side. The younger shinigami's purplish eyes flashed over to Natsu who only gave her a smirk and did nothing to ease the worry on the shinigami's shoulders. Their relationship may have gotten better as Rukia was exceptionally good at forgiving misgivings but they still didn't know each other very well. They hadn't been spending a lot of time together during this entire mission, either, as they had different duties to fulfill. It made sense that there was nothing she could say to ease the shinigami's worries.

"Oh… Natsu." Natsu raised a small eyebrow at the ex-con who had shifted slightly to turn and look at her. Obsidian eyes glared into her own honey and red freckled ones. "It seems I too have forgotten how to speak."

Natsu narrowed her eyes just a slight bit before giving the woman a shrug which had her unconsciously growing a bit straighter. Immediately, a snarling grimace came along her face as she recognized the off-beat movement she had made, before she settled her bland expression back down. When Natsu reconnected to her surroundings, the ex-con was observing her. The moment their eyes met again it was a brief moment of interlocking before Natsu recieved a simple, discreet nod. The ex-con's petite body turned back around showing off the new muscle and the strength that was slowly increasing in her. It came in the straightness of her shoulders and the regal arch that went through her as she stood tall with her legs protruding under her like firm pillars instead of twigs. Her head was also up and her chin pointed out. Most of all, though, was that increase in the flare of her reiatsu.

Natsu knew that her smirk was growing again as she made out the diminished weight of the seals that had been placed on the ex-con. It was certainly not to a level that was required for fighting or what even allow her to be promoted to a seated position. It was obvious, however, that with the seals initially weakening that there was great potential for them to come completely off by the time the war would begin. It would still take time, work, and an impossible amount of effort that made Natsu cringe just thinking about it, but this wasn't Natsu. This was the woman that could release her shikai state after a little over a week back within the folds of reishi after a near one hundred years of imprisonment and sensory deprivation. If it wasn't from Yuko's doing, hacking away at the restraint with her previous set of knowledge and aggressive pride, than the old man would get impatient enough to do it himself. The ex-con was probably one of the more useful fighters that the Gotei 13 had and this was war.

Natsu scratched her head as the two souls returned to Soul Society through the gate with nothing but a small slip of air and the disappearance of reiatsu. After staring for a moments at the off-white walls that made up the human's apartment, she flickered her gaze over to said owner of the walls. The orange-haired girl, who was scratching her arm nervously, shifted her weight as two pairs of eyes connected before, with another flustered jolt, they disconnected under the pressure. Natsu's eyes wandered up to the clip that was strapped into the orange ribbons of hair, as the girl's head ducked down. After just seconds, a dissonant moment where observation and remembrance clashed violently, Natsu saw that the clips were newly healed.

The lion in her snarled slightly before snuffling when a fist came down hard and fast on its nose, as the air that was built up in her chest was let out with a long sigh. Orihime's head immediately moved up, snatching the view of the clips away from Natsu's gaze, and pushing away the rest of the residual sounds crashing glass from Natsu's memory. They matched in an odd way in that moment, with static energy that thrummed through the two of them as they weighed out something to say to the other. Wide eyes met with half-sunken ones as they watched one another and took in the expressions of jittery anxiety and boredom.

"Rukia's tol' me she's gonna see 'bout gettin' ya ta Seireitei fo' trainin'."

Orihime nodded with a stubborn grip on her lips to signify her obduracy to the decision. "I want to train."

"Oh, I ain't 'gainst it." Natsu waved her hand slightly before tucking it into her pockets and slumping just a bit more. "I ain't gonna stop ya o' nothin'…. Jus' know ya a heala an' not a fighta."

"You do… both?" The human girl's sentence trailed off into a realm of questioning and nervousness as she twitched her feet again.

Natsu watched for a moment as the girl before her grew increasingly nervous and was stumbling over what she had just said. Her own features brightened slightly at the innocence that the human was exuding and the nervous quake at having potentially overstepped something. Orihime was certainly like a cuddly puppy which had accidentally knocked something over and was frantically looking for its escape route before the owners made their way into the room to catch the culprit.

"I can do both." Natsu caught eyes again with the girl before her and then let out a grumble, "i's so much work though an' I get tired jus' thinkin' o' everythin' I've been doin' down here… So much sleep ta catch up on."

Orihime gave her a small laugh which turned into a smile. "I guess you might not understand why I want to do this then."

"I don't." Natsu nodded slowly and then teetered her head over to the side to take in the peach colored walls that gave off an air of cleanliness and modernity which was something completely amiss from Kisuke's place. Things back in Soul Society were stark and bland, but Orihime at least knew about putting ease and warmth to an environment. "But tha's 'cause I neva wanted ta figh'… Fact, I didn't wanna be a Shinigami."

"Then why did you?" Orihime blinked several times as she voiced her question.

Natsu flickered her eyes back over to the girl and gave her a sardonic twist of her lips. That question was probably on everyone's tongue with how she acted in her every day life and yet it was a human girl that had decided to ask her straight out about her intentions. Humans were bold creatures. Perhaps, because they had so little time to figure things out in life. Natsu found her own eyes rolling at the prickly, worn out thoughts that were coming to her brain. Only old people thought of such things and old people were annoying. They just drone on and on.

"Cause I ain't got much o' a choice," Natsu stated, the words feeling oddly placed within her mouth and, for some reason, practiced. "When ya born like me there's only one option, ya know? - Always had a strong re'yoku so tha's it."

 _Don't blame just me, Natsu._

 _Shud up._

"Oh," Orihime breathed out and turned her head down slightly before flickering her gaze up slightly to look at her. "Natsu-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Are you rela- Nevermind!" Orihimie cut off swiftly as she started to wave her hands furiously again. Natsu raised an eyebrow at the mix of embarrassment and furious berating that was waving from the human girl's aura but Orihime continued to splutter words out through anything she could have said. "It's fine… I've already forgotten what I was going to say, anyway. It was probably dumb anyway - hehehe."

Natsu blinked at this and then shrugged. "Whateva ya wanna do Hime."

Orihime led her over to the doorway as it had become obvious that the conversation had worn dry very quickly after that stumble. Natsu didn't want to know what she was going to ask at all from the way that the human girl's posture and eyes were shaking around. As if Natsu herself would come out and grab her suddenly, like a hollow does to souls it wants to devour.

Rukia had mentioned that the orange head had found her way to where Ichigo was before getting summoned to Kisuke's training grounds. Then afterwards they had been speaking with one another, in consolation about Orihime's forced retraction from the battle field. It had taken a few moments for Natsu to get Rukia to focus on finishing the story since the small noble was very adamantly berating Kisuke for doing what he had to do. Natsu had slipped her head back during the rampage until Rukia had noticed and all but smacked her over the head. It took a few moments of agreeing that she would talk to the blonde shop owner - not that she had any true intentions of doing so - before Rukia would continue with the story.

Apparently some blonde girl had kidnapped Orihime saying something about 'Hachi'. Natsu felt the cold breathe of some words slipping under her tongue as Rukia described what she could remember of the kidnapper, but she remained steadfast in keeping her mask alive. Rukia had tracked them until she found them in the warehouse district. Not knowing how to break through the barrier without causing problem she had waited outside. Only what she was confronted with at the end of the day was both Orihime and Yuko walking out without a single scratch.

Natsu narrowed her eyes down slightly and then grasped Orihime's shoulder as she turned back around in the open doorway. "Hime. Ya gonna ta promise me somethin'." The orange haired girl blinked several times and then nodded with a small frown of consideration on her face. "Neva go near tha' warehouse 'gain."

"Y - You know?"

Natsu touched down on the girl's clips and those, doe, brown eyes darted towards the object underneath thin fingers before they met with Natsu's own again. Words fell from her lips before she truly understand what she was saying. "Not bad but not good, ya know? Don't jus' trust em 'cause they did somethin' nice… I's good ya goin' ta Seireitei fo' a bit."

"What about that other woman?" Orihime voiced after a small moment of contemplation. "Rukia mentioned something about getting punished…. She looked very worried at seeing her."

"As much as ya trust Yoruichi an' Kisuke ya can trust 'er."

Natsu would let the girl decide if she wanted to trust the ex-con, though she supposed trusting Yuko the same amount as Yoruichi was already giving the girl implicit directions to trust the woman. That woman had gotten the worst draw of the entire hand and the rest of Soul Society barely knew about that. For that Natsu could only respect that decisions the former captain had made. Above all else, as a sigh began to run from her chest and out her lips, Yuko was probably the only person Natsu could want on a team; regardless of passe memories and current findings.

As much as her thoughts dawdled on the immense respect Yuko had already garnered from her in a short period of time, something which provoked her to think about how the former captain's division must have felt before, during, and after everything, she equally made slow time back to the Shoten. The exhaustion from training was already seeping in and there was a fizzle from her reiryoku with a revolution in her stomach. A small grunt echoed through her body and she paused slightly as she rested up against the wall.

 _This is why I gotta not be fightin'._

She slammed her hand into what would be the orb of red at the center of her body; where the sternum met the abdomen. There was a distinct feeling of sizzling, like burning inside, before the orb began to shrink causing a looseness to emerge into the once very constraining space. Her eyes squeezed closed for a moment, the painful relaxation method slipping more fatigue along her bones, before she was opening them again. Any longer and she probably could have fallen asleep where she was stood.

A small huff left her nose as she took in the pothole and the long stretch of a street that she was on. Barren of people and yet completely filled with the leftovers that signified everything about humans that lived on the street. During another time it would have been filled with life. Now it was empty structures along the street signifying what had been.

 _I tol' maself I ain't doin' this no more._

Natsu gritted her teeth and started with a small, charged walk so that she could get out of the street as quickly as possible. As soon as she got the end she slowed down again. She drifted her hands up about her as she snagged at all the ghosts that seemed to flutter around her body, whispers of touch and words, shocking her skin and heart. Heavily, they draped on her back. With a firm hand, she swung them off of her and left them behind her as she continued her walk.

Her lion reared up at the rejection, protesting at the loss of its blanket that it kept so firmly between its teeth. Angered at the puckered hole that was left behind by the ghost's unwelcome ripping of skin. Natsu began slandering down on it with thick walls to keep it back; shutting it in again as she had done years ago. She had gotten just a bit too nice and a bit too dreamy since the showdown with Aizen. Now she'd be there to keep the heavy weight of those walls down firmly until everything was in check and she had returned to her utmost normal. She'd start with a long sleep when she got back to the Shoten.

* * *

 **A/N: As promised, a second chapter this week. I'm hoping to get back to one chapter a week so keep your eyes pealed.**

 **Either way I hope you all enjoyed this slightly, angsty and somewhat telling chapter about Natsu. Please let me know what you think. I love hearing from you all.**

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	28. Chapter 27

In the silence she could wander easily. It was like walking through a tunnel whose walls angled over her like a tight hug, the small breeze whipping against her face from up in front as she pushed through, and the darkness as a calm hand against the base of her back so she wouldn't carelessly and recklessly hurt herself. When she had been a small girl, born premature which effected her stature for a long time growing up, her height had never impeded her from going wandering. In fact, it seemed to egg her all the more to move about as everything else was more grand than her. Her stature did however allow her to crawl through a hollowed out tree trunk, which promptly became something of her hide out. Her eyes had adjusted quickly to the dark shelter of the bark, a welcome notion with being more attracted to bright lights and sunshine, and her hands squished at the moss that grew in spontaneous bursts throughout the trunk. She had yelped the first time she had encountered a bug that wandering over her hand, and the nest of fire ants that prickled her skin. She grew quickly used to it as she wandered down that long tunnel towards the radiant, sunlight that was on the other side.

This felt much like those cautious steps of a toddler through the tree trunk; investigating, but at the same feeling that burning at the back of their neck as they confronted their greatest fear of the darkness. With the shades on her eyes she could walk along that path like an old hand as she now knew each and every bump and when the little, bugs would come crawling out. The feeling that solitude had given her was that she could wander into the darkness and make her way out of it.

Her dreary, deadpan look stayed permanently fastened to her face at all times as she took everything in. Her hands and her knees scrapped against the ground as they continued to wander in front of and underneath her as guides. In that same darkness which was the waiting time until the war, she could adjust to the dark which was all the familiar reiatsus and knowledge. Her heart could settle down to the feelings, acknowledging them and moving forward once she had enough of an understanding of them, and she was awake to the light which was the end of the war on the other side.

She sincerely doubted that anyone could have seen any difference in her or about her. She maintained the same rhythm to her life, between her whining comments and her steadfast attitude to her training. She joked at the Renji, teamed up with Jinta, mellowed out with Ururu, and snickered with Yoruichi. She did her patrols and ran around at her own pace which was nothing more like a slug's walk. Just at the hush of her step, though, she wondered - in those brief moments when she was alone now - if she was more awake or more asleep. And if she was asleep, when would she wake up? What would make her wake up? What would she wake up to?

"Che…. Ren ya killin' me 'ere'. Stop makin' me do stuff." Natsu whined out, fingertips brushing against the floor, as the red-head dragged her out the door way. She slumped heavily against the pull of her robes and let her feet casually tumble after her as Renji hefted most of her weight. "I ain't even got a gigai or whateva."

"That guy just wants us out of the house, Natsu…. And stop calling me by that ridiculous nickname."

"Che." Natsu stuck a finger into her ear as the red head succeeded in his scramble through the door. Now knowing what would set him off, she watched as his face burned with a furious temper as he rigidly continued walking forward - her being literally a doll in his grip - with grumbles heavily tumbling from his lips at her for her statement of: "No need ta shout."

Chad followed them out behind them and was watching the dynamic with an embarrassed, reservedness that made her smirk glint. When the young human caught sight of her look, beneath the serene twist of his lips to maintain his silent-strong look, she could see the disheveled mask of faux nonchalance. The tall man, though similar in stature to Tessai, was nothing alike in personality and was much easier to embarrass. She let herself be dragged down the street for just a bit longer by the scruff of her neck, as if she was a sled to be toted behind. It was garnering some odd looks for the redhead who was too busy grumbling to notice and Chad was growing increasingly embarrassed by the second at all the eyes watching them.

"Renji." Chad finally breathed out and the redhead looking over his shoulder. "You're getting a lot of attention."

The redhead looked around, taking in the eyes of the pedestrians that were catching quick glimpses as they walked by, before unhooking his fingers from the fabric of her robes. Natsu let out a small yelp as she was dropped right onto the concrete, with her bum and then her head clanking against the cement. The two boys did their best to play off the moment as they continued to 'talk' while she stayed watching them from the ground; watching their lips move and twist around. Knowing that they weren't going to help her up, she grumbled as she lifted herself onto her feet and then rose to her full height once the blood stopped rushing in her head and the world was still.

"Ya didn't 'ave ta drop me like tha'." Natsu rubbed at the bump at the back of her head. "Ya go treatin' a lady like tha'…. Whatta 'ave done if tha' was Ru, huh?"

"R- Ru… Don't bring up nonsense," Renji spluttered for a moment before pointing at her accusingly. "Don't give her a nickname either."

Natsu raised an eyebrow again before a large, Chesire grin spread along her face that the two boys backed up slightly. "Now's 'ere's somethin' interestin'… Did I stumble on somethin' ya been tryin' ta 'ide Ren? Secret desires?"

Chad grabbed onto the red head who was about to thrust at her with whips for hands and spikes for fingers. She blinked and gave him her superior smile as she watched the redhead, just before her lazy eyes, struggle in vain against hulking arms. If there was anything super useful about Chad it was that his iron like grip was superior to most. Natsu doubted even Ikkaku would be able to break free from it. The lieutenant was flung as far forward as he could go, with the giant locking his elbows into the red-head's armpits, thus leaving his face protruded out to try and bite at her. It was far enough away that she stuck out her tongue, pulled down her eyelid - causing a greater uproar of thrashing -, and she was still out of reach for a spit shot.

"Stop Renji. She's trying to rile you up." Chad's voice was strong and not at all breathless as he spoke against the floundering, red fish in his arms. "Natsu-san please stop instigating."

She shut her tongue into her mouth and then let out a chuckle. "Ain't doin' nothin', Chad… He's gettin' angry fo' no reason."

Somehow the group found a strange peace as they began their walk. Having trained together or at least been in the same space for more than three weeks they knew how to not get into each other's way, as much as they knew how to piss each other off as fast as possible. That may seem like an incredibly short amount of time to some. Regularly spending three weeks was only enough to know if you could relatively get along with someone. However, there was an intensity that was lacking in other day to day activities. An intensity in the connection between the three that could only be found when they were shoving each other around, and spraying blood along the dirt floor. When two people clash they learn about their opponent. When two people train together, they are invited into another world with them in some sense; some place just that much more vulnerable.

Natsu's ears pricked up slightly and she angled her head over towards the sound that was drifting along by her side. The rhythm vibrated around her and then sunk into her very skin as her breath picked up just slightly; rising and tingling as she recognized it instantly. Her feet wafted along the air as she let herself be glided over towards the sounds. Her mind wrapped itself into a tight cocoon as she honed in on the sounds; a symbiotic moment with the music that was surrounding her. Her brain filled in what was covered up by the honks of cars and people talking, and the music she blanketed herself in filled up part of her memory that she hadn't re-seen in a long time. Almost as if the memory that she could now re-watch, overfilled her with the senses that she had felt in that very time and space.

She squatted down with her elbows on her knees and her fingers twitching in the air as she observed the strange object before her that was projecting the melody of her memory. It was a large black square but it had a few nozzles on a silver panel that she noticed were for volume. Then there was a large round circle with a yellow rim around it straight in the middle that sunk in to the back of the black box. The center of that circle was vibrating with the noises like an actual image of how the music was coming out and how each note hit the air.

"Natsu?"

Her eyes slowly flickered up and turned to see that Renji and Chad had come by her side and were looking down at the music radiator. Her fingers slowly planted down on the vibrating material as she inundated herself with the music and vibrated with it. Then her eyes traced back over how the mesh was moving beneath her fingers and memorized the music coming to life.

"Hey don't just ignore me." Renji hit her shoulder as he squatted down next to her. "Do you know this or something?"

"Yeah… Used ta 'ear this all tha time."

"This is jazz music," Chad supplied, most likely to Renji who knew nothing of human music. "I don't know much about the genre."

She hummed as the trumpets started blaring and her head slowly dropped up and down as she nodded along to the beat. There was a new voice in the mix and she heard Renji and Chad conversing with the new person. She, however, remained squatted down, both cemented and fluid by the music that thrummed over her body. Down the very caverns of her cell's organs she could feel the way that music in her swayed and breathed.

"I'm surprised you know something like this Natsu." Renji spoke out over the music and she tilted her eyes over to the redhead. "Apparently its pretty old stuff."

"Tha' ya way o' sayin' I'mma ol'?"

"Don't get offended... I'm just saying."

The music changed over to something more upbeat and Natsu pulled back instantly. She'd stick to only having one song spiraling around her head over and over. This one was too old and too much a part of her to cut away from her, anyway. She had too many vivid memories of humming this song out loud or trying to recall it to not what to hang on to the meaning of it. She wondered if the spiny fingers she once had going through her hair, would be tapping to the beat somewhere else in town in the way she remembered.

Her eyes wandered around at the variety of stalls that were piled along the street. Chad quietly mentioned that it was a street fair that they had stumbled upon because of her dancing feet. There were booths for street food - Chad was nice enough to buy her a small portion of takoyaki - and other more sizzling treats. It added to the heat - a sticky, lively environment of gathered peoples - of the area as it sent tumbles of smoke and blew off steam and smells in all direction of the streets. It also had a variety of local artisans set up to show off their works. It was mainly filled with art from everything like graffiti and charactature work to realistic portraits. There were tons of ceramics and pottery, and jewelry made from glass. There were numerous booths for leather works, as well.

The people walked in and out of booths which were nothing more than tables covered with their products with small tarps over their heads. Everyone acted like schools of fish as they wandered about, moving in groups from table to table or even mindlessly down the aisles that were resurrected. The same could be said for their little trio, which went about talking pleasantly with Chad having to explain a few things as they went about. There was tons of modern influences and that just brought about more than enough questions for them to always be asking the usually very quiet giant.

"Boke," Natsu muttered as Renji was sifting through a few pair of sunglasses. "Don't get those… They look bad."

They were way too bright and multicolored for his red hair. Chad nodded along silently at her statement and Renji let out a long sigh, before holding up a different pair that were too round. She knocked those down as well and then picked up a random pair and thrust them at his chest. Surprisingly her pick went over very well and look reminiscent of the goggles that he had once adorned apparently.

"Oh… Rang'?"

"Natsu?" The busty woman cried as she swooped around towards there group. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We stumbled on the fair… Urahara wanted us out of the house for a bit." Renji grumbled as he crossed his arms before directing his eyes onto the bags that she had. "Did you buy enough?"

Natsu also peered at the multiple bags on the woman's arms which amounted to twelve. The question sent them in the search for a quieter area so that the blonde woman could show off everything that she had bought. It ended up being a endless supply of clothing that she would probably never use and Natsu let out a small huff at the mismanagement, though she'd admit that the clothes were very well suited for Rangiku.

"I bought something that you might like Natsu." Natsu blinked several times. "I was going to wear it but it's much more your style."

For a moment all that was heard was the ripping of bags and the whining about having to find the apparently small object in the hordes of bags that she accumulated. When the rustling finally died down, slowly the lieutenant drew out a set of blue ribbons and held them out for her. "I remembered you had that blue sash… Now you can wear something that might not get damaged in your fights."

"Thanks." Natsu supplied as she collected the ribbons into her grip with her thumb running over the soft material. "Maybe if I grow ma 'air out more."

The color was very close to the sash that she had worn for the few weeks leading up to the fight with Aizen on the hill. She had done it somewhat on purpose with wanting to keep the garment close to her with an odd chill always following her around at the time. Then it turned out to be very useful in giving her support during the actual fight at its own cost. Before that she had remembered wearing that sash on and off over the years when she got her shihakusho again sometimes going through a period of months before taking it back off again.

As Kido corps was a closed and secretive group, it didn't allow for any personalization of the uniform which was supposed to keep any identification from happening or was meant to keep it to such a low probability. That was why even their faces were covered up by the white garments. In some ways, it was a bit like the onmitsukido. The only thing she could actively remember ever changing was her hair throughout her time in the corps. Hair was never a problem as it was always covered up during missions and ceremonies anyway, so eccentric hair-styles was often how people differentiated their looks. When she knew that she could do it with her clothes it took her a long time to get used to the idea.

"Is blue your favorite color or something?" Renji asked as she stuffed the present into her sleeves until she got back to the shop.

Natsu hummed slightly and then shrugged. "Don't really got a fav'rite color… Tha sash was a present from a long time 'go."

"That's right." Rangiku popped in immediately and the three of them turned over. "The sou-taicho is calling tomorrow for an update. He wants you to be there Natsu."

"Che - Wha's tha ol' guy wanna talk 'bout wit' me?" Natsu groaned out as she tried to wave off the pressure that was already on her shoulders. Rangiku only shrugged as she was folding the last of her clothes back into her bag. "I'll show up, guess."

"Well it would be horrible if you didn't show up Natsu…. Captain would throw an absolute fit and then he'd take it out on me."

Natsu groaned at the mini guilt trip Rangiku was trying to dish out and then waved it off as well. "I said I'mma gonna sho' up so don't give me ya puppy eyes."

"Great!" Rangiku gave a wonderfully giant swirl with her bags and skirt fluttering with the wind. Not moments later she sashayed away with her ever present glam and the three of them were left blinking at the whirlwind that had swept through their group.

Natsu sunk down into her body just a bit more and grumbled at the thought of having to deal with the old man the next day, and most likely earlier in the morning since that's just how old men were. They may go to bed early but they also wake up at the crack of dawn. Not that the old man could be considered a normal old man. They also had no consideration for the youth and ran on their own schedules expecting all others to keep up with them just because they had lived longer and knew more... In theory, she often justified. They only knew more in theory.

Chad left shortly after that calling it a day and wanting to get an early night for the first time in a while. The remaining two made a slow walk back up through the stalls where some were closing down. Natsu peered up at the already limp sun that wasn't blazing as brightly as it had been just a bit earlier. In the distractions that the day had presented, the heat had run its course and the night would be setting upon them soon enough.

"If I ask you a question would you actually answer it?"

Natsu peered over at Renji who had his head looking over at the stalls, that she might have guessed he hadn't started a conversation at all. But his head and then eyes wandered over to match her own in a relaxed fashion that she found herself adjusting as the air around them shifted. Nothing about him screamed anger or frustration, and he appeared calm for his quick tempered nature. With his hands in his pockets and his casual stroll, she say he had even enjoyed the passing walk with her. But it was in the air, and the slow hum of energy that was going between them.

She shrugged then and opted for looking ahead. "'pends on tha question, I guess."

"When you got sick," Renji began and kept his eyes ahead as well to keep the rest of the pressure of from his words,"you mentioned something to me. I don't know if you remember."

"I rememba." Natsu nodded slowly and then shoved the memory into the back. It had been a rather dismal performance on her part, after which Renji had actually decided to be nicer to her.

"My goal has always been to beat Kuchiki-taicho… I want his acknowledgement so that I can freely be around Rukia without," Natsu blinked at the strange turn in conversation from the man next to her. She remained resolute in studying the small, orange sign up ahead of them and then tilted her head back as she passed under it. "Without feeling subpar to him and what he can offer."

"Wha's this got ta do wit' me?"

Renji finally glanced over at her but he turned back down to the ground with a small frown on his features and his fingers pushing down into his jean pockets. "If I'm going to ask you something personal than I should also offer something of myself in return."

"So whacha wanna know?" Natsu picked slightly at her ear and then brought her hand back into her pocket as she tilted her head back to a regular position.

"Did you join Urahara because of something in the past? - Before you joined the Gotei 13."

"Does tha' make me a betta person? O' da ya jus' want ta know 'cause we're spendin' so much time togetha recently an' ya wanna make me a betta person?"

Renji blinked at the question and let out a gruff sigh. He eyed the cracks that they were walking over as they took a turn down onto another street. "I just want to understand why it was you."

"I only asked maself one question when I though' 'bout wha' Kisuke said," Natsu began as she nodded off to look at the sky just diagonally up from her. "It was 'wha' if he's righ'? Wha' 'appens then'?"

"But why you? Why did you even have a stake in it?"

Natsu let out a long sigh. That long night in the shop forty-three years ago was dreary. It had started as a normal expedition team of four sent to check out some hollows that had some sort of kido based abilities that didn't appear to be a cero or anything similar to what they had seen before. It ended with her having her right side cut off and nearly bleeding out before she made out a pair of genta sandals. The rest of the team had unfortunately not made it and she had time to mourn that later on when she had fully recovered and returned back to the Soul Society.

When she had woken up in the Shoten, he had purposely kept her weakened so that she couldn't jump him. He had been absolutely certain she would do it, and he had been correct in his precaution. She had shot daggers out of her eyes for as long as she could even as she was restrained down to the floor. She had squirmed and wiggled around ready to do her best to murder a murderer, and picked a hole straight through her hand from trying to push out kido when she really shouldn't have. He had asked her only one question and offered up one statement and she went still beneath his shadowed eyes though she could feel the pressure of them as they watched her face. 'What if he is still alive?' and 'I did my best to fulfill my promise' were the only things that echoed through her when she left the next morning and for the three years before she decided to trust the man enough to give up her position in the Kido corps.

"Does tha matta?" Natsu retorted as she looked over at the brown eyes still on her. "Wouldn't ya 'ave done tha same wit' jus' tha' much of a prob'ility?"

"I don't know. I don't think it would have been enough to convince me… Not to do what you did." Renji responded back after little thinking.

Natsu blinked at the subtly of the man's wording. He had run the conversation right back to the beginning, obviously seeing that there was a connection to how she answered but also knowing that they had moved away from the initial prompt. She huffed a bit at the odd way he had hit the nail on the head and his stubbornness to seek an answer to the very end. She had supposed it would never appear like enough of a reason for the outside person - especially anyone who knew how selfish she was - but it also true that it hadn't been enough of a reason for her either. That's why Kisuke was able to feed off of her so well. 'What if he is still alive?' 'What if I truly did everything to fulfill my promise?' She could still see that way those gray eyes had pressed at during those briefs seconds.

"Ya righ' then." Natsu nodded along to her words as if they were more to herself. "Ya righ'."

There was a very obvious sound of shifting clothes and Natsu smirked at the idea of the red head being uncomfortable with the suddenness of her confession. Mayhap it was because he wasn't sure what to do with the burden of knowing. It had taken her a long time to get used to that too and to learn how to speak without giving anything away.

"Kisuke was righ' too and tha's 'ow he destroyed ma life."

"D…. Destroyed, huh?" Renji managed out softly. "I would say you have something okay going on now."

Natsu let out a small chuckle and then titled a sardonic grin over to the blinking man. "There ain't any spy tha's eva had a good life, boke."

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, and the chapter update is on time this week! Slowly, slowly getting towards the war, and a bit more is revealed about Natsu.**

 **Do you guys think it's too boring? I'm trying to really flesh out Natsu and build a bit of character into the piece, but if it's too slow let me know.**

 **Comment/question/review/or just say 'hi'. Also available by pm if that makes you more comfortable.**


	29. Chapter 28

"Do you understand Kotomi Natsu?"

Natsu blinked several times at the croaking voice that came out of the TV ahead of her. A dull drop of her head was followed only seconds by a heavy sigh as her shoulders dropped down on her form. "Yeah… I'll a pass 'em on ta Kisuke."

"I'd also like you to contribute and overlook his work on the matter."

"Course."

The old man gave a nod and then he was stepping towards the side. "You have someone else that wished to speak with you."

Natsu ran her eyes along Ayako's form as the Shinigami in the TV screen began to switch places. She was the same as ever with her hands locked neatly in front of her legs and her form standing proud and straight. Her eyes were clear of everything but warm concern and what appeared to be joy, as a small smile began to work along the older woman's features; a tiny crinkle at the corner of the eyes continuing the happy expression. She was wearing a pink-red sash around her waist this time and her hair looked just a bit messier than it normally was with it always flopping into her face.

The older woman looked over towards the exiting Sou-taicho with a small bow in her head and her features became hidden from view for only a few moments. The elderly man, who now stood by the doorway, left the room swiftly after giving out a few directions to close down the communication device once their conversation was finished, to which Ayako responded with another duck of her head. By the time it was just the two of them, Ayako turned around again with a serine type of smile that smoothed out Natsu's very ruffled feathers at the Sou-taicho's new commands.

More work, less sleep, and a very eager Kisuke was the only thing that was bound to be waiting for her when she got back to the Shoten. Kisuke was always one hundred steps too far ahead of most people, so Natsu could only imagine that he had already predicted the assignment that she had just been given. If for but a moment, Natsu could just pause as she stood in the room with her mentor.

A smirk came along her lips as she stared at Ayako's form. It was mainly those eyes which were roving over her again and again as if expecting limbs to be misplaced or scratches to suddenly become visible. Natsu lifted a finger up to her ear as her smirk seemed to become just a bit deeper. "Wha's up?"

"I see you've kept your promise," Ayako responded with a small roll of her eyes at the casual comment. "I requested an audience with you because I wanted to check in... I heard you had a fight with an arrancar."

"Yeah… Jus' tha' good ta win too."

Ayako let out a small huff of laughter as she visibly relaxed so that she was leaning onto one leg. She swept her fringe away from her eyes and then let her hand drop back down with the silence enveloping them. Natsu felt the eyes coming about her again this time in a distinct pattern of capturing as much as possible, spending time along all her limbs but particularly her face. The eyes were lens, a truth that most don't think about because it's blindly accepted, but this made Natsu really feel like she was being captured into some sort of eternity. The swamp of a look had her scrunching up her features with the sticky residue residing heavily around her.

Keeping the energy in her face, as she re-arranged from childish look to disgusting masks, Ayako let out a huff. "Stop that. I'm just making sure you're not lying to me."

Natsu grumbled and crossed her arms. "When 'ave I eva lied ta ya?"

"All the time." Ayako took only two seconds to respond, nearly jumping on the end of Natsu's sentence as the older woman pointed an accusing finger at her. "Well, you negate more than you lie."

"Ya suck."

"Yes, yes... I know."

"Whadda ya want?"

Ayako let out a small sigh. A small furrow made it's way between her eyebrows before it smoothed over. The crinkle in the older woman's lips - at the boorish personality of her underling - was also smothered away by a soft smile. All that was left was the tiniest tilt of her head, just after she shook it for a moment. And then as Natsu counted to three in the her head, Ayako let out a tiny laugh that had been expected. "You'll never change…. I wanted to make sure you're still feeling alright. You released all your seals so I just wanted to know if they're giving you trouble."

"Nothin' I can't 'andle." Natsu retorted with a petulant frown overcoming her skin. The shuffling of her hands into her pockets happened just as she sagged down a bit more around her shoulders and let the heavy weight drop from around her. "Been doin' it longa than ya know so I got ma tricks fo' dealin' wit' everythin'."

"I know you do but I also know that those same methods can really hurt you so I wanted to check in… Make sure that there's nothing I could do to help."

Ever since Ayako had discovered the three seals, around their twentieth year of knowing one another, she had always been very cautious with them and the damage that they could impart on Natsu's body if they weren't treated well. It had taken a lot of persistence on the older woman's part to figure out why they were needed at all. It was a stubbornness that was matched only by Natsu's refusal to mention anything that had to do with her weird medical condition, her history, or her zanpakuto. From there after, Ayako was always incredibly clear that she wanted to know how she could help out. Natsu had never called on her help, not even once, in the twenty years afterwards even if the older woman was constantly checking in and showing up. A tingle in the back of Natsu's head had her imagining a scenario where Ayako confronted taicho; a likelihood that Natsu both shuddered over and knew had probably taken place.

Natsu sighed again then waved off her comment very strictly with a flick of her wrist to go along with her ever-sly warped language. "I ain't sick ya know…. 'Avin' em released don't do much 'arm."

"It causes you pain, Natsu. You may not be dying from it but that doesn't mean you don't feel the pain from it." There was a serious frown along Ayako's face as her eyes crinkled up in concern from her reiteration to what she believed to be nothing more than a stubborn girl who refused to acknowledge the severity of the issue.

"Stop ya blatherin'… Ain't no need ta ge' so upset 'bout this. I'mma fine."

Ayako let out another sigh and then held up that deferential hand that had Natsu pausing her grumbling to look at warily from the corner of her eye; a snarky twist of her lips accompanying that sudden jam of complaints that were supposed to have left. Even with whole world and TV screen between them, the small palm and the long fingers were still heavy and notable in just that small action. "You wouldn't even mention if you were in pain at all so I have to ask."

"I ain't in pain," Natsu whined right back.

Ayako slotted her eyes to an almost close, targeting them directly at the younger girl who looked away just as quickly from the aimed gaze, and then pointed her forefinger at the mentee. "Don't make me force you to show me your stomach Natsu."

Natsu stuffed her hands deep into her pockets and stared longingly at the wood that seemed to suddenly become more interesting. Since her "technique" for punching holes into the overly stuffed reiryoku often left bruises, the obvious marks were something that Ayako was aware of. How the older Shinigami had figured that out was unknown, or a forgotten memory, but at some point it had been figured out. There had already been several occasions, after serious amounts of time healing at the fourth division, that the woman had forced Natsu to take off her top as proof of her clear, non-bruised skin. A test that she had failed many times before. It got her a serious telling off for not asking Unohana for help and instead dealing with it the 'wrong' way.

"I won't… Cause there's no problem."

"You liar." Ayako restrained the rest of her sentence as she let it fall over in a sigh. "But I'll stop questioning - Did you just say I was harassing you?"

Natsu grumbled again, more complaints falling into microscopically small waves of noise, and looked back over to the side. As if she hadn't tried to cough out those words without Ayako's keen ears hearing them, Natsu did her best to place a confused, somewhat innocent, uncomprehending mask on her face. When she risked a better glance at the woman's face again it was scrunched up into indescribable features but the more prominent emotion was frustration. The small voice in Natsu's head rang off that she should definitely work harder at mastering that 'innocent' look. Natsu continued contorting her face again and twisted them about until Ayako was jabbing at her to stop with the childishness.

"You win, Natsu." Ayako finally resorted to which had Natsu smirking at the woman. "I know it doesn't kill you but I know it's incredibly uncomfortable and it's hard to deal with so take it easy. How much have you been sleeping lately?"

Natsu stuck a finger into her ear and twisted it about. "Che…. Ya suck, Ayako. Stop wit' ya whinin'."

"I'm making sure you're actually taking care of yourself… You look too thin, actually, and there are bags under your eyes so don't bother trying to lie to me about everything."

Natsu 'tsked' underneath her breathe again and let out a long sigh at the furrowing in the older woman's brows and the sudden impulsive, incessant knit-picking that the older woman had set out to place back into order. It was true that, Natsu's sleep had dropped back to fourteen hours but the ramifications of all the training kept building upon her body. Her reiryoku flared every day and she spent hours getting it to settle back down again so that she could dump over in a peaceful sleep for the evening. It effected how much she could eat but she knew how to sustain herself at the minimum.

It was an effect that her reiryoku had ever since she had been a child. If she compared herself to human development - as souls born in Soul Society age very slowly since spirits often have longer lifespans than a human corpse - her body was no more developed than a four-year-old human child. At first, Unohana had supposed that it was because her body was too small, being born premature and therefore on the smaller end of growth developments, to handle the reiryoku at a young age. In time it was theorized that she would grow out of all the pain and the flares that attacked her own body.

The seals were placed on her body to help stabilize the amount of reiatsu that she could push out and how it left her body. This in turn would help to not force the reiryoku to flare out of control. The flaring was something which could have been detrimental to her body at the time as it would essentially crush her body from the inside out with the reiryoku trying to escape. The medics of division four, however, still couldn't stop her reiryoku from spluttering and growing. With the effects being stronger during the younger parts of her childhood, she had spent many days and nights in the fourth division; though she did slightly grow out of the situation when the sealing technique was improved later on.

Natsu's condition never passed even with age and her body growing naturally. Her reiryoku remained something of a sickness to her own body that kept her out of play in Soul Society and at the Kido Corps at times. At its worse it had her in the state about a week ago, if not down for much longer than three days. At its best it never effected her. Usually it was something in between where she had to beat it down before it could inflate too much and give her problems. It was the only reason she had left to become a Shinigami, because as a Shinigami she would learn the best way with dealing with it.

New symptoms started to crop up during her years in the Kido Corps and the Gotei 13. Not only were the intense moments of pain when it flared out in its odd splattering moments when the reiryoku grew too fast in her body, something different. Suddenly, there was the need for long and deep amounts of sleep that were the only way to keep a constant hold on the reiryoku. She also had to use her reiatsu a bit every single day to help push off excess, but if she used too much than her reiryoku would flare out again and it would cause her pain. In those moments eating became a hardship and she could force very little down. Her sleep also became more disturbed and not as restful.

"Stop ya worryin' Ayako."

"Obviously I still have to worry about you, Natsu," Ayako supplied as she shook her head. "I know you're probably training, which is good for you to do, but you don't have to push yourself so much."

Natsu let out a small sigh and then flattened her fringe along her forehead. "Ya too concerned. Cool off will ya."

It was annoying to be on the receiving end of lectures, particularly about her health, but all disciplining was boring to hear even when coming from Ayako. How many times had she been on the receiving end of these types of lectures? However, Natsu had to duck down in a small amount of submission to the woman's worry whenever the conversation cropped up. Her heart brushed against her own throat at such times, and her stomach would sink just a little bit. It was still warming in its own way, having Ayako looming over her with a waggling finger and know-it-all words, though to have her ear talked off all the time was a pain.

"I'll cut back on my lectures when you actually start taking care of yourself properly."

"When I'mma supposed ta do tha'?" Natsu grumbled and then kicked her foot out slightly along the floorboards. "I'mma in trainin' an' there's a war comin'… I'mma helpin' Kisuke an' Tessai. I jus' wanna sleep ya know?"

Ayako let out a little sigh and nodded while Natsu let out another typical sigh. The young shinigami fluttered her eyes to peer through her fringe as Ayako began in her cool tone. "I know you just want to sleep Natsu." There was a soft smile to accompany the words that came after just a small pause. "You've been doing good work and you're being trusted to do a lot. That's a great honor… Just also remember to take a few days off in between for yourself."

"Whateva."

"Yeah… Whateva." Ayako mimicked out slightly as she rolled her eyes and then smiled again; this time just a bit wider. "Good luck with all your work and keep your promise."

"Yeah, yeah…. Stop ya talkin' Ayako."

The woman let out a small huff of laughter and then signed off with a small wave. The screen went blank as the top and bottom of the visuals waved into the center to blink and allow the dark to replace the image of Ayako. Natsu stood watching her own reflection as her hands deftly moved into her pockets as she shrunk into her frame. There was a deep sunken-ness in her, she supposed. Though it wasn't too apparent since it was no more than a deeper slump in her shoulders and a tiny amount of gauntness in her cheeks. Ayako was probably the only one to really tell since the older woman had known her for so long now and was always yapping about how to better take care of herself. She was probably the only woman that was incessant about checking in on her health. Even Unohana couldn't beat her to that game.

Natsu flattened her fringe against her forehead and let out a loud sigh. Her shoulders rolled around until they sank back down, and then her feet started slithering over to the window that she had entered through. Since Orihime had left, Rangiku had been given the keys to the apartment to help maintain it in the interim. Why it couldn't have been Hitsugaya was beyond Natsu's reasoning, but it was all left to Rangiku. Since the blonde was out of the house for whatever reason she had invented for herself, most likely shopping which she happily did to avoid listening to the old man talk, only the window was forever open to exit and enter from with the front door being locked. At the very least, Natsu supposed, it meant that the TV was always easily accessed and Orihime's place wasn't open to unwanted visitors.

"Here."

Natsu turned over to see Yumichika who was holding out a small cup of brown something or other in his slim fingers. Natsu had seen a few humans walking around with it but had never figured out what it was. Her eyes turned over to her sudden companion as if watching his face would give her some clues. There was a patiently deceptive smile on his lips along his long, thin face. Her eyes slowly trailed over the dark wash jeans he was in and the red top which surprisingly didn't clash with his dark purple hair. The shade of red matched with that one set of feathers which were connected with his left eyebrow, which was probably why he could play it off so well. Yumichika was the only one that could pull of anything so ridiculous anyway. And he said she had atrocious style.

She took a small step over to the slender man and grasped the cup to stare at it a bit more. She circled the little plastic spoon around as she scooped up the interesting food, and then popped it into her mouth. It fell down cold and soft on her tongue, almost instantly dissolving in the heat of her mouth. There was something sweet about it, although the shavings were a bit too flaky and made the dessert a bit more watery. She took another taste tentatively as she pondered over what exactly she was eating

"Wha's this?"

"An icy… Or that's what the humans called it," Yumichika replied as he settled a bit of weight onto the wall of the building. They were at the backside of the apartment building, which made conversation very easy between Yumichika's gigai body and her soul body as there were no actual humans coming around. "What did the Sou-taicho have to say?"

"Nothin'… Jus' an orda fo' Kisuke an' fo' me ta 'elp out an' stuff."

"You've been doing a lot of work lately. I think you're complexion is changing, Natsu."

Natsu took in another bite as she shrugged slightly at the comment. She then held out a spoon for the man to take. He let out a small puff of laughter before dipping down and taking the spoon between his lips before retracting again. There was a pleasant hum as he leaned back into the wall, and so Natsu settled down into a squat by his legs.

"It's been a long time since we had time like this, right, Natsu?"

She shrugged slightly as she took another spoonful of the sugary snack. "I guess."

After her transfer to the Gotei 13, the separate divisions had been a bit hard to overcome. Natsu refused to do any sort of training with them, and at the start the two were almost ashamed to be seen around a weakling from the fourth. Additionally, there were changes to personalities that they had to take into consideration. Not that they had the same personalities to begin with but with the academy system they had found ways to arrange themselves well. However, it had been just over twenty years since they had really been around one another for more than a day and they had missed out on a lot. They had patched things up, but because of the nature of her work there were just things that kept her busy that she couldn't go around telling them about. So, inevitably, they had also drifted.

"When this war is done let's go out for some sake or a nice night off." Yumichika supplied with his eleventh division confidence not at all wavering at the aspect of fighting in a war. "It'll be good to really catch up."

"Sure."

He let out a sigh and then tapped down on her head. She slowly turned up to see the more flat expression on his face as his purple eyes kept her locked in her slumped place. She perked an eyebrow at that slowly and dropped the spoon down into the bowl. "Wha?"

"It's not beautiful to lie, Natsu."

"I ain't lyin'."

He slowly came down to his own squat just in front of her and dragged his fingers along the bridge of her nose and then across the plumpness under her eyes. He cradled her cheek slightly before giving it a smooth roll over with her thumb and then patted it gently. "I didn't mean about meeting up later on. I meant about your condition."

"Wh-"

"Your appearance is completely off. It's not beautiful at all." Yumichika huffed as he crossed his arms over his knees, with his eyes flickering between her two own. "I don't want to be seen with someone so unsightly."

Natsu blinked a few times before giving the man a smirk. "I ain't eva been much ta look twice at so don't worry, you'll still get all tha 'tention Yumi."

"Silly girl." Yumichika huffed once more as his hands fluttered over her fringe and then he had them moving about so that he could check the back of the hair cut. "It's because you're not caring about your appearance. Please tell me you're going to get rid of this horrendous Mohawk mullet piece you have going on."

"Don't knock artistic 'xpression, Yumi."

They both got off the ground with Yumi still fussing, particularly because he wanted to start to at least braid the long tails that she had. She waved him interloping hands away until they were making a game of "swat the fly away", with her making a slow dance from side to side to avoid him. He twisted about with her voicing his complaints so that he could nab at her hair.

She snapped a hand against the two tails, as if he suddenly drawn scissors out to cut off her hair, and stuck her other hand to stop him from coming close as they continued to look at one another. "I'mma gonna do somethin' different, when tha res' grows out."

"Will you finally take me opinion into consideration?"

Natsu stuck her tongue out immediately afterwards and Yumichika blanched a bit, leaving her chuckling at the vain man. The sides of her shaved head were already growing back in from the previous shave she had given them a while back. She'd probably cut off the tails as soon as the Mohawk was gone, but she had absolutely no wish to involve Yumichika in the designing of her hair.

"Nah… I'mma not gonna 'cause ya ideas suck."

"Natsu." Yumichika groaned out and then let out a strong huff while his arms went up into the air to send off his frustration. "I can't believe I'm friends with such a stubborn and disgusting child like you."

"Shuddup ya vain peacock."

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter done and dusted, and it's an exploration into Natsu's illness. Poor girl always suffering.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who has continued to read _Dynasty_!**

 **Please leave reviews/comments/questions/ or pm me if that's preferred. It's always great to hear from you all.**


	30. Chapter 29

The technique for Tenkai Ketchu was horrible. Horrible. Horrible. It was the technique that Kisuke decided to create as per the Sou-taicho's orders. Natsu had a small thought that Kisuke had already planned to do such a thing and suggest it anyway with how detailed the plan was by the time she was monotonously repeating what the old man wanted. The technique would allow Soul Society to impose an entirely fake Karakura Town, an exact replica to the one in the human realm, and swap it for the real town which would be sent up to the rukongai districts in Soul Society. Essentially it was a giant transportation technique with a added layer of developmental kaido to recreate the 'new Karakura'. Natsu found herself complaining about the technique because it constantly meant being hounded. It definitely deserved the overemphasis on _horrible_ as she was dragged about the house from the training grounds to the second floor to work on it every day or badgered even in her sleep for information.

At first Kisuke had been near insufferable with asking her every possible question about the senkaimon. She was the best source of knowledge in the human realm, right after Tessai, since Kisuke didn't have access to the gate itself. Within the kido corps, it was the sealing division that working most directly with artifacts like the senkaimon. All seals effectively influence the reishi around it to do whatever the task was set out to do. Seals could strengthen reishi, infuse with it, manipulate it, or even enhance the effects of a more traditional demon art via how the reishi gets influenced. With Natsu having spent decades in the sealing division she was, unfortunately, very knowledgeable and had spent a great deal of time working with the senkaimon.

The formation of the senkaimon barriers and the connections to the transportation of all the participants to and from the Soul Society were in effect large seals which were constantly observed. It was because the sealing for the senkaimon to open, transport, and close the passages between the human realm and Soul Society went far beyond the premises of what barriers and bakudo could do. The seals enhanced the timing and the transportation of larger participants though the gates, by morphing the reiryoku's of the individuals as well as controlling the reishi within the dimensions that were traversed. The seals also helped to diminish the effects of "splits" between the human and the spiritual realms so that nothing could seep over to either side. This is similar to the limiters placed on those of lieutenant level or up when they passed through.

She couldn't understand why Kisuke was adamant about using her information because one, he knew a lot about the senkaimon to begin with and two, because she was always closed lipped about how the kido corps worked due to her knowledge of the policies of the place. Even small transgressions were not taken lightly. However, after Kisuke had finished trying to pry information from her, he insisted on her help with the project. In fact, he more like shoved the entire project into her hands and told her to do all the leg work and then he would chip in later, along with the help of the twelfth division. He wanted to focus on the other technique that he was forming for Aizen.

She and Tessai ended up scouring the town and making a map of the layout of the entire town. It was a complex process which started first started with gigantic sketches of the geographic landscapes and then down to smaller details of specific areas. Then they had to sculpt out every single house and building that made up the radius of the town, and then scale it down. Once they had a small replica of the entire Karakura Town, which took up a massive section in the training ground, they started the theorizing about how to cover over the entire space so that they could protect it and swap them out.

According to Kisuke they had to condense the amount of reishi in the area by erecting barriers around the entire landscape of Karakura Town. They had to start with that because if the reishi moved about too much it could counteract the usage of the senkaimon. This is because the senkaimon is a locked amount of reishi within a singular space and when it comes into contact with stronger amounts of reishi the gate becomes distorted. It took more than a few weeks to get done. Suppressing reishi into a single sliver was hard enough, but to do it with a naturally effusive town was highly improbable. They failed on multiple attempts and were blown up in the process to the point of serious burns.

After they had condensed the reishi until it could stay within a locked radius and wouldn't slip through, they they had to categorize and collect every single reiryoku print that was in the town. This process was immensely helped by the twelfth division; by way of a useful little gadget that they had created to memorize reiryoku. It was, however, only them two that did the work. It meant going door to do and analyzing every single person that lived in the place, and registering it with a small computer back at the Shoten. It was an incredibly slow process because they could only collect up to five at a time, and then they had to get back to the shop so that they reiryoku signatures wouldn't be confused or overlapped with anything else.

It also didn't help that they had to find a way to suppress the more powerful reiryokus that were in the town. While it made it easier to trace and to register the reiryoku of those certain individuals, it also meant that they had to put down a much more powerful sleeping kido. The change in the atmosphere when the humans would be in Soul Society would be enough to make a lot of people stay collapsed and out of it for the majority of the fighting. However, the sleeping kido was to be an extra protection since the transfer wouldn't be enough for those who had naturally higher reiryokus and could end up adjusting to the atmosphere in Soul Society. This meant that they had to figure out a way to diffuse a large amount of kido out along the radius of the town during the shift to the Soul Society.

Natsu ended up coming up with the idea of a small dispersal of the sleeping kido at intervals of thirty minutes. It would require a timing seal and a seal for the sleeping kido which they could overlap. However it added another element to covering the entire space, which was how they ended up with the concept of four large octagonal pillars which could contain all the seals that they were going to have to use.

Those pillars would carry a tremendous amount of kido. They would have seals to replicate the image of Karakura which they got from the map but also would condense the reishi, register all the reiryokus, and have the timed sleeping kido seals. In addition they would be the support to keeping the swap in place. This meant that the pillars would have to be able to withstand a long period of time in which they acted like an open senkaimon so that the real Karakura Town could stay in the rukongai districts.

The construction of the pillars was something that Tessai did after consulting with Kisuke on what type of material could maintain a form with that much power stored in them. It took a large amount of strength - bluntly pointed out by Kisuke who said "look at those thin arms Natsu-san" - and endurance - once again Kisuke saying "I can't have a woman working that hard in my shop". The materials were sent down by the twelfth division, though Kisuke made more than a few tweaks; much to the raging chagrin of a certain current, twelfth division captain. Tessai immediately started building them which took time in itself to make sure that there wouldn't be a single problem with them. The blonde's major contribution was the creation of the support beams should the technique either be shattered or should it start to regress on its own naturally.

When it came to placing the seals it was Natsu who took over. Her specialized expertise in the area of sealing was something which even Tessai's long term experience in the Kido Corps didn't provide. She had gritted her teeth at the idea at the beginning, since it was only her experiences and slight expertise in the area that made her the prime candidate for the technique, and then, subsequently, groaned. She did it anyway because it was the only way that they could think of doing it. Both Kisuke and Tessai did their best to keep the pressure off of her at all other times meaning she even got physically carried about.

She recalled vaguely both Tessai and Kisuke watching the process with avid interest. She had settled down on the ground with scripture on her lap and surrounding her, while one pillar was placed in another circle similar to her own. Encircled by the supporting kanji, the process still took a very long time and an exertion in mental force and strain. She had extended one arm out with the palm straight out to face the object, and sounded off everything that she could. Her reiatsu had fluttered as strongly as she could push it out that everything about her own body was moving upwards and about the area; from the fluttering tails on her head, to the clothing she wore, and even, what felt like, her own skin.

The sealing process on the pillars took twelve days in total, with using three days for each of the four pillars. She had knocked herself out almost every single day so that her reiryoku wouldn't flare up too much, and had to sleep another eighteen hours a night so that she would be well prepared for the next day. It was a grueling process that actually had her near tears by the end with her skin feeling like it was boiling off by just sitting in the spot. Her body wanted to crumble under the efforts and by the fourth day she already felt way over her limit. Tessai had taken over for just one day after that, but she returned to her post as she had to finish the process so that there wouldn't be too much dissonance between the kido that was implanted into the pillars.

Kido was fickle that way. It was something that even plagued the medics. Once kido was started it could not change reiryoku signatures, because it was something that came directly out from one person's reiryoku. Two people could use the same demon art to strengthen the impact but only when they were both individually doing said demon art. If the reiryoku signature was changed from one to another completely it could weaken the impact or change the direction of how the demon art was infused. This was why, for example, only one medic could ever be prescribed to a patient at one time because if kaido was used than only that medic could ever maintain the care, so that the reiryoku change wouldn't cause further damage. This also meant that medics tried not to use kaido all the time when the situation didn't call for it, so as a to avoid having a person-to-person type of system.

Things like the Senkaimon even fell into such a pattern. The exit of Shinigami to the human world was controlled by one kido corps member. The entry of those same Shinigami back to the Soul Society could be managed by someone else because it was a different reiryoku signature from the start which was used to work the seals. However, that kido corps member that was helping with the entry of the Shinigami could not be switched out in the middle of the transfer, otherwise the Shinigami would end up in the waste territory of the dangai.

Natsu had to do all four pillars because of the same concept, since ultimately the four pillars would be used in conjunction with one another. In effect, they needed the same reiryoku signature to make sure that they were individually stable. The embedded reiryoku also had to be the same because each pillar had to resonate the same way to connect most effectively with each other pillar. It wouldn't matter once they had all the seals placed on them and both Kisuke and Tessai could trigger the seals to begin working, but each pillar needed to be filled up with her own work to remain at the most stable form they could.

"Well done, Natsu-san." Kisuke could barely compliment as his fingers roved over the pillars in scientific marvel. His eyes fell back to the slumped form of the girl that had immediately fallen over in her success. "You've really become someone quite scary."

Natsu let out harsh breathes as black smoke began to filter out of her by way of her mouth and her pores. Her chest pumped up and down as the flames began were too slow to die out. "Ya can't say tha' ta me, Kisuke… Ya too scary."

The blonde looked over at the girl before he came to a sit next to her as he observed the four pillars that were now resting in his basement. His gray eyes fell back down to the girl that was grasping to the last shreds of her consciousness as her eyes began to flicker in her exhaustion. Sweat was probably the only thing that he could make on her face since she was cloaked and covered in layers of it. Her ragged body was dumped onto the ground and her fingers twitched every now and again as her brain was acting out from too many neurons firing off.

He let out a small chuckle at the honey freckled with brown spotted eyes which were slopping disdain towards him. "Have you decided on what barriers should be placed around the pillars?"

"Tessai got tha'… Somethin' ova ninety ain't it?"

"Most likely. Soul society will take care establishing those during the war I'm sure," Kisuke responded, as his fingers gently patted down on her shoulder. "Tessai and I will make sure that the start up process goes correctly… As was the deal."

"Ya betta." Natsu glared at the man and then let out another huff of air that left her in rough coughs from her lungs. "'eard Tessai got tha incantation down 'lready… Ya behind oldie."

Kisuke pouted slightly and then shifted around so that he could pick the young girl up and bring her to her bedroom for much needed rest. She was already practically asleep in his arms as he began walking. "I've been busy, Natsu-san~ Don't be so harsh."

"Nah… Ya jus' slow," she whispered out.

Kisuke chuckled again. "I've left it to Abarai-san to update your Sou-taicho so you just rest now."

Natsu ended sleeping a straight two days afterwards. Subconsciously she must have known that she could collapse for a bit without causing too much trouble for anyone. Not that anyone from the company had been paying any particular attention to what she was doing other than "following orders". She knew it was probably from the build up of training up until that point, which had the impact of intensity more than hours. Then afterwards came the over exertion of creating the Tenkai Ketchu in the twelve days that had sent her tipping over the peak finally.

After she awoke, Natsu spent four days simply eating since her appetite had resurfaced with a ravenous vengeance. Her only project during the four days was transcribing out a few versions of the process that they had undergone to create the Tenkai Ketchu. One was for Kisuke, another for Soul Society, and the last was a personal copy. She may not have the same inventors mind that Kisuke did, but there was a certain amount of pride that she took in being that effective with her seals. It was going to be a permanent reminder of her power in the glory days and it would function as proof that sometimes she really did put work into the projects she wanted to put time into.

Tessai and Kisuke then all but rejected her appearance in the underground training entrance, with the larger man draping her along his shoulder to bring her back to her room. Apparently, it was more important for her to get her full health back and to feel strong again before she ever entered a fight again. So, instead she spent the time recuperating with tons of relaxation time. She wasted away on the roof where she could soak in the sun at all times of the day and sometimes in the middle of those days she would do her own light type of training to keep up with the small boost she had gotten from the prior training.

During the down time, she also got to see how Yoruichi was training and spending her time. The cat had been using a more forested area to practice her agility and flash steps. More than a few trees had fallen over, having been chipped down to the core, in the wake of over-repeated hakudo moves. There was scarring along the ground from using her shunko and more than enough earth had been pulled up to leave a deep trench the pedestrians that would walk by later on. It was just the type of work that Natsu would never be able to pull off, and she groaned about the idea of having to put that much physical exercise into her own training routine. Yoruichi had only chided at her flimsy attitude and had snickered at the young girl for her lack of muscle definition and persistent laziness.

She was eating again with Yoruichi and the children when she felt the pick in the air. Her eyes immediately snapped over to the area where the arrancar could be felt, just over Jinta's funny, red hair, and found her eyes hurting as she tried to stare through the walls. As the tan walls peered straight back at her she waited for a sense of recognition to occur as she felt the reiatsus that were beginning to flare. However, all she knew was that it was near the area where she had felt the rest of the team were and with the way that the reiatsus were moving her team was probably engaging with the enemy already. Long ago, as per Tessai's instructions for his personalized training, she had sealed Sekhmet back into her wrist and so she was prepared to move out at any single moment if she was needed.

 _I's very early fo' em to come._

 _… They are all very powerful, Natsu. Way beyond the one that you fought._

 _I know…. Mo' important's why they came in tha firs' place._

She heard the thumps from behind and she shared a quick look with Yoruichi, who's fine, cat hairs were raised up on ends, and then moved too see what was going on in the hallway. Kisuke was already coming down the way and he merely patted on her shoulder and flashed a jubilant grin before he was heading out in the direction of the pulsing strength.

Her eyes narrowed down at the intensity of the blonde's on reiatsu. He had always attempted to depict himself as a childish but sly pervert, and yet that intensity that always surrounded him was the only betraying factor. Walking away from the shoten was a captain of pure strength and mental might that said man tried to hide beneath his mask. There was no way that he could betray that steeled glint in his eyes or the rough arch in his shoulders or the purpose that he walked with at that moment. Regardless, with his zanpakuto already out and by his side ready to fight, there was no denying that Urahara Kisuke was a very dangerous man. It left her grimacing at the con that she always knew about but had never fully seen; one that she had found herself wrapped up in before she knew it.

"He's probably only going to check out the arrancar situation himself." Yoruichi cut through her thoughts as the feline's head popped out into the hall. "You don't have to worry about him. Let's finish eating."

"Ain't worried."

Yoruichi smirked over at her and then tugged her by the hand until they were back at the table. "Don't tell me you have a crush on Kisuke."

"Nah." Natsu yawned out as she pulled in another long drag of noodles. "I jus' curious 'bout why tha arrancar are movin'… I's too early."

"Who knows?" Yoruichi supplied. However the narrowness in those gold eyes was enough for Natsu to also know that it was a concern that should be noted and taken into consideration, even if the feline's tone of voice was nothing but nonchalant.

* * *

There were a few wounds when the group came stumbling into the Shoten again. As Natsu moved forward to assess the situation, her medic instinct rearing it's ugly and aggressive head, Kisuke immediately snatched her by the wrist. His incessant tugging led them both out the door and left the group to the groping hands of the children and Tessai. The echoes of bangs and loud shouts followed the two of them until they were a bit further up from the house, where only the strangled version of Ikkaku's screams could be heard.

Natsu looked over at the blonde who suddenly shrunk down to her eye-line; crisp, gray eyes making contact with her own as he bent his knees just slightly so that they were the same height. The small, coddling move had her narrowing her eyes. It had always been about a relatively equal relationship between the two of them. Because Kisuke was most assuredly older than her and a superior in more ways than one, the relationship would never be fully equal. However, the dynamic between them was much more intellectually equal than what would have most likely been shaped had Urahara Kisuke not been exiled. Had none of them been exiled in fact. Natsu shuddered to realize that she could potentially imagine a scenario in which the dynamic in Soul Society was considerably altered. The deep, harsh edges along his face, as Natsu's eyes re-focused, sent off a growing rumble in her stomach as it began to clench at the way Kisuke's eyes were locked onto her.

"I need you to do something for me Natsu." Kisuke worded out slowly and simply but in such a way that the lion's fur was beginning to stand on. She knew she could not escape from whatever he was going to request next. "Rukia-san was sent her to the human world as well. My assumption was that she went to go help Ichigo with the fight he got into."

"Ya wan' me ta find 'er?"

"Yes."

Natsu studied the serious look and then narrowed her eyes when Kisuke remained untouched. Like a flash of lightening, her eyes dropped closed for just a few moments as if she was actually struck by a harsh, electric bolt when the silent message finally connected. She was met with the same steel in the blonde's eyes when she opened them back up again. "She's at tha warehouse."

"Yes."

"Sucks."

"It does." Kisuke supplied in his unsympathetic voice but then nodded his head as he came back up to his full height. "I believe the fight was a decoy for something else… We have to step up the timeline and since it's your technique I want you to be the one to share it with our allies."

Natsu sighed again and then stuffed her hand into her sleeve so that she could get her medical bag. Once that was done she slipped it around her shoulders, and then drew out her zanpakuto which she strapped into her white sash. Sekhmet awkwardly remained quiet in her head for the first time. Normally the lion would be all over this new altercation that was coming. Natsu felt immediately like she would topple over to her side once her zanpakuto was fastened securely. Resolutely, she thought, it was better to have the precaution even if there was a hard weight that came with it.

"When I get back, Kisuke, ya betta 'ave somethin' ta give me."

"I will inform you of my speculations once I have retrieved more information." Kisuke nodded along to his words.

Natsu took another look at the gray eyes, which peered so incessantly into her in the past minute than they ever had in the years of knowing one another, before letting out a sigh. Her head dumped backwards and then she let her chin come to her chest as she pulled at hairs. Everything was to be in line and as straight as could be; from her fringe to her pony-tails. Her fingers jerked at all the material she could touch so that it was in line with the seams and with her own body. Then she tilted her head back up under the blonde's simpering look, which morphed, finally, into something of resolve again as he gave her a faint nod in what seemed to be understanding.

"Than-"

"I tol' ya 'lready." Natsu turned around as she began down the street toward the ware house. "Don't eva mention tha' ta me."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you SilencEloquent for your review. It was wonderful to hear from you! I'm super happy that the story is still really intriguing for you and that Natsu is a compelling character. It's definitely a shared sentiment. Natsu is a very interesting character to write for me!**

 **I hope that this rings true for everyone who has continued to read my story. Thank you so much for your support and I hope that you continue to stick with me until the end. I think I'm just over half-way through now, so... Don't know whether to be sad or excited for how things are going to develop in the story from here.**

 **Please comment/review/say 'hi' or anything at all. Also available by pm if that's what makes you comfortable. I just like hearing from you all. Thanks!**


	31. Chapter 30

Natsu drew out a long breath from her lungs; holding it until her chest began to throb with need. Just beyond that point, when even her throat was beginning to tingle with the absence of air, she pushed out the leaden air as slowly as possible. After the pain had dulled, she remembered she had attempted such a thing in the first place. Because her heart, the annoying organ that it was, needed to jump start itself. If her heart had been her footsteps than she would have toppled over and just about gone into cardiac arrest. The closer she got to the warehouse the harder it became to lift each leg, until it practically felt like she was wading through the deepest part of sand and debris invested waters. Everything around her was just that dark, and she had to look over her shoulder to make sure that no monsters would come out from the back and swallow her up in one bite. After all, it's at those moments when predators start to grab at their prey as if they could smell distraction, reluctance, and fear.

 _If it helps, Natsu. Think of it as a mission._

 _…. Tha' sucks more._

 _You and your need to not be controlled by rules._

 _Ya like orda too much._

 _You sound like the lion._

 _Shudup._

Natsu gritted her teeth slightly and stomped her foot against the street a few times to get the blood flowing again into the limb. When she was felt like the world was suddenly still, and not erratically pulsing, Natsu gave a small nod to agree with the pace her heartbeat had set. Her mind scented onto Rukia's reiatsu fingerprint and she trailed behind it with her adept, lethargic steps.

Although she had always been able to sense the other reiatsus in the area, the barrier that was placed over the group was enough to throw her off a lot of the time. This time, however, the barrier was let down and she could make out the steady stream of all the reiatsus. While they were keeping their reiatsu down low, given that there were still shinigami in town, she couldn't bring herself to take in the all those scents. She, herself, was coming to hate the smell of cinnamon that used to beckon her close, but it was also getting the lion just a bit too riled up.

The lion in her may have already been shut up in its pen. However, the space was large enough that it had gotten up to its feet and was prowling about in circles as it recognized the scent that was growing stronger. Its gold fur brushed up against the cage bars as it came closer during the arch of its turn, and then its nose came through two bars. A deep huff of breath resounded across the steel bars, air nothing more than flighty friend curving around the metal, all whilst it kept its amber eyes locked on the distant horizon it couldn't run toward. There was a tiny mewl that came out afterwards, somewhere in back of its throat, and then the lioness started to back up again until it was in the center of the pen, and swirling around in a figure eight.

Natsu became aware of the placement of her own face, and scrunched it up a few times before letting it drop back down. Her hands were already in her pockets and her shoulders were hooked over her body once again. She let her head hang down just a bit further and let out another sigh at having had to make the entire trek across town. The only thing going at the same exorbitant pace as her own thinking, something which had it been made aware to another would have been surprising, was her heart beat. The distance that she had covered unconsciously had cast the opposite effect on the rhythmic organ, as she felt the cord of her medical bag press down between the valley of her breasts. Like a powerful drumming, she could almost make out the vibration through her entire body, leaving her only with the acute sensation of tightening the fists in her pockets to keep her from rocking about.

Natsu spied momentarily around the corner of the building, locking down all of her reiatsu so that she wouldn't be felt, as she took in the group. There were several up by the doors; one being the blonde that she had meet the other day. Then, there was a girl in some sort of sailor school girl uniform which had a long-sleeved white blouse with a tiny blue cape around the collar area. She topped it off with a pink scarf which went underneath the blue flap, but stuck out in the front and fell down on her chest. The shirt was cut short and showed off her midriff, and skin fell down into a blue mini-skirt which probably fluttered a lot as she moved about. At the bottom she had high black socks and then white sneakers.

The cute look was contrasted by the messy hair that was pulled into a long braid at the back. Even though Natsu could make out glasses on her figure, there was nothing about the woman that appeared nerdy except maybe the stern look on her face. She was also betrayed by the rigidness in her posture and the unapproachable feel that she gave off.

The other unrecognizable man was someone wearing an uninteresting green track suit, with a white strip that went over his own shoulder to hold onto his zanpakuto. His hair, however, was styled into the points of a star and he had on sunglasses. The look of a "wanna be" tough guy was pulled off by the slouched seat he had taken on the ground to watch the proceedings. His arms were loosely crossed over his chest as he sat unprofessionally with his legs semi-sprawled and his back resting against the door frame. He sat in such a way that he could easily slink back into the warehouse if he wanted to, but also allowed him to watch everything else going on outside.

The third completely unrecognizable one, was a gigantic person, in both height and in body type, who was sat over Ichigo to heal what appeared to Natsu to be injuries. He was wearing an off green suit with a white button up underneath and a yellow bow-tie to finish off the look. He looked much like a grandpa with his pink mustache which was combed to perfection over his top lip. His pink hair was also cropped very close and had a black design which Natsu couldn't make out from the distance, but it stood out from the pink hairs that he had on his head.

Natsu bypassed the fourth person, completely. Nothing more than another newcomer that she probably wouldn't have to interact with anyway. Not giving any attention to her entrance, she washed forward into the area. Her steps were easily heard by the group and she saw all of them jerking to watch her. She slipped a smirk along her lips and cut her eyes just that much more shut as she kept her dazed walk forward. The lion in her let out a choked huff as the group began to look between one another. With two of them gripping a bit onto their zanpakutos, as they kept their eyes on her, Natsu felt some of the hairs on her arms raising as she made her way just that much closer. She drew the smirk a bit wider and flickered her gaze easily among the three - adamant about there being no fourth person now - before turning to watch her fellow shinigami.

Obviously Rukia was too caught up in her own thoughts so Natsu had to let slip a little more reiatsu to tickle the girl under the nose. When the purplette had swung around, her owlish eyes blinked several times before her mouth dropped open slightly. "Natsu?"

"Yo Ru."

"W- What are you doing here?" Rukia stumbled the words out as she turned her full force onto Natsu. Her arms were still crossed but she was looking off to the side almost as if committing some sort of odd penance. Whether that was to apologize for not being able to come up with an adequate lie for the warehouse group or feeling sorry for feeling she had to lie to a team member, Natsu wasn't sure. "This is… It's not what it looks like."

Natsu blinked a few times very slowly as she took in the nervous words of the young noble. Before she could stop it, she let out a Chesire grin - happily letting the skin stretch to accommodate her own nervous chills - as she took in the flustered younger girl. Once she was finally close enough, stopping her steps a few inches from Rukia, she jokingly made a show of peering over the shorter girl's head and looking at the healing process. She took her time as she observed the orange orb over Ichigo. Momentarily the buzzing in her brain fried, trying to fixate on a gaze that she didn't want to meet, but recognition flashed and the chills she felt blew away quickly. Her eyes came to a slight scrunch as she recognized the technique as something that was very similar to Orihime's technique, and her curiosity was quickly winning over the situation.

"Ya 'lready started tha 'ealin' process…. Is there somethin' else?"

Rukia's cheeks flushed several times and Natsu found herself being pushed back slightly by the shorter one. "Don't do that!"

"Do wha'?"

"Get that close. I know you're taller than me so you don't need to do it."

Natsu let out a small huff before realigning a smirk along her features so that her normal mask was facing a rather flustered Shinigami. Rukia's reiatsu was already settling back to normal and there was a clarity in the girl's eyes which was much more like her. She had been tense the entire time Natsu had looked in on the interactions, and, as she had made her way forward, Natsu could practically hear the wiring in the noble's brain desperately trying to connect thoughts together. It was very obvious that the young noble was lost and had no idea what to make of the situation. It didn't help that she was also surrounded by people that were much more than double her strength and it had probably flared her 'flight or fight' reaction.

"Ya cou-" Natsu cut her words slightly as she stepped over towards Ichigo. She peered over at his face and the contortion in the boy's features as she suddenly started to squat over him. "Rukia."

"W—What?"

Natsu reached into the orb, not even worried about breaking the time-distortion kido, and picked up Ichigo's wrist. She held it as tentatively as she could, as if the bones would break under her needle like fingers, and then watched as it fell down limp through the air to pop along his chest. She then shifted her head over her shoulder to see the worried eyebrows and the pick in the girl's mouth that was watching her avidly. She thrust her finger down and gave Ichigo a few pokes as the two girls continued to watch one another.

"He ain't dead," Natsu spoke out slowly.

It took just a moment for the words to seep in and then Rukia's hand was flying out to slap at the back of her head. She dumped it forward as the blow was landed and immediately found her hands cuddling the back of her head to rub away the shocking impact. It was already buzzing as the skin came to life from the hit. Natsu peered up at the suddenly aggravated Shinigami that was now ten times bigger than her own squatted form.

"Take this seriously you moron," Rukia aggressively retorted as her hand pointed an accusing finger at her. Her body loomed just that much more as she continued the assault. "I thought you were going to say something was wrong with Ichigo… Don't do things like that, stupid."

"Ya can tell nothin's wrong wit' 'im boke… No need ta 'it me."

"You were acting stupidly, moron. Of course I had to hit you!"

Natsu stuck out her tongue immediately and ducked under the second blow that Rukia took a swing for. As the air whipped over her head, Natsu was about to retort with a "miss~", when knuckles flew down straight onto the top of her head. Whines left her lips as she cuddled the top of her head and glared up at Rukia. There was an evil twist on the noble's face in that gloating smile. As she held her fist up successfully in her accomplishment in having successfully killed a fly that had been bothering her for days now, the tick of ire around Rukia's face was disappeared to one of pride.

"Whateva… Ya suck, Ru."

Rukia let out a sigh and then went about fixing her shihakusho as if she hadn't acted childishly herself in that one instant. "How are the others?"

"Dead."

"Stop lying!"

"Fine." Natsu let out a sigh as she turned so that she was squatting facing the shinigami who was looking genuinely concerned. It wouldn't do to have her backtracking down the route of worry after Natsu had spent so long pulling her back from it. It would be just downright annoying. "At tha shop… Tessai'll fix em up righ'. Tha's why I'mma 'ere. Not injured are ya?"

Rukia gave a small smile at that and then shook her head. Natsu eyed the girl's form. There was nothing particularly off, other than the immense amount of worry she seemed to be toting around. Her hair was a bit disorganized as well, but there was no bruising that might have caused issues. In fact, there was no blood on the girl at all and she was basically pristine except for the small scratches and the dirt over her.

"How did you know where I was?"

Natsu peered up at her face at the words and then smirked. "Cause I'mm jus-" Her words paused at the sudden ire on the girl's face and then let out a long sigh. "I 'ate when ya gotta be so serious… It ain't like ya got tha weird ass barrier 'round ya righ' now. It's easy trackin' ya reiatsu."

"You knew about the barrier?" Rukia questioned and the more she looked down at her, Natsu could see the pieces connecting together. She didn't feel the need to try and prevent anything though. It was too much work to try and twist her way out of it. "You knew where Ichigo was the entire time, didn't you?"

"Who da ya think brought Ichi 'ere, exactly? Tha' boy got no sense of reiatsu trackin'," Natsu put out blandly as she waved a hand about in the air.

Rukia hoisted her slightly up by the collar of her shihakusho until their faces were close to one another. Their noses brushed as Rukia leaned in closer with her barrage of words. "Why didn't you say anything? What if Ichigo had been hurt? What then?"

"Wha'?" Natsu fluttered her eyes over to the side. Her leg muscles were already groaning at being forced into an awkward squatted position, since she couldn't stand at her full height with the way Rukia was keeping her stapled close. "Ichi wanted ta be 'ere… Too much a hassle ta stop 'im from doin' stupid things."

"What i-"

"Rukia… Something else been botherin' me." Natsu cut through, before she found herself under the firing tirade that the Kuchiki girl probably had come up with. Drifting her eyes back to the girl, Natsu watched as the short girl scrunched up her features again to go along with the sudden change of conversation. "How we gonna bring Ichi back ta 'is house?"

"Won't he stay here until he's finished healing?"

Natsu gave her a bland look and, using the change of tone in the conversation, broke free from her steel bars. As she came back to a squatted position by the orb, she maintained her eye contact even as she thrust her thumb over her shoulder to signal where Rukia should really be looking. "This ain't a healin' technique… Tha big guy ain't gonna be able ta 'eal 'im up prop'ly."

"Wha-"

"The new Shinigami is correct, ma'am." Natsu jumped slightly, head creaking around her shoulder so that she could peer at the man. A curious, gold gaze was watching her as she let her dimly lit, half-open eyes match him. "I use something like time-regression and it is not really a healing technique. If there is not a clear injury then it is impossible for me to heal."

"Then Natsu can finish it up."

"Wha?" Natsu dug into her ear as she went back around to to face Rukia at her suggestion. "I'mma low on reiatsu righ' now so tha's a no."

Rukia let out a snort and crossed her arms. "You look like you haven't been doing anything this entire time."

"I was workin'… I jus' don't work on ya schedule," Natsu offered out as she shrugged slightly.

"Then why are you here?"

Natsu gave another shrug but, before Rukia could jump down her throat again, Natsu waved through to the point that she was trying to get at from the start. "So why don't ya take 'is body back ta tha house, an' I'll fix 'im up a bit before transportin' 'im there."

"Is… Wait, why do I have to bring the body back? Couldn't you just teleport them together?" Rukia sounded out. The whole idea, apparently, was completely dubious to the noble. Natsu could feel the incredulity through the young noble's stare, probably not knowing how such a plan could have been thought of as 'necessary' or 'possible' in the first place.

"Ya can't put a damaged soul inta a gigai… Don't 'llow no 'ealin' ta happe'," Natsu replied as she settled into her squat a bit more.

"Why don't you bring his body back then?"

Natsu groaned out and then flung out an arm in demonstration. "I got bad genes…No muscle ya see."

There was an aggravated grunt and few chuckles from the group in back, which took Rukia's attention away. The stout Shinigami eyed the chuckling frames - giggles which seemed to come from all of them except the blonde - and then went back down to Natsu who seemed to only be watching the air pass by. Rukia tried to peer just a bit more into the sardonic look on the older shinigami's face but she couldn't read the lazy expression, which appeared to have completely ignored the grunt and chuckles that had come from her whimsical statement. From what Rukia understood, Natsu was the type to normally react to people's reactions. Not that Rukia had ever been around the healer much.

A long sigh seemed to follow her train of thoughts, something which was becoming normal when she was dealing with Natsu, and then nodded slightly to herself. She wasn't Natsu's friend but even she knew when she was being dismissed by the woman. Although Natsu was still joking around and had that deadpan look on her face that she had carried through the entire time, there was still a mighty uncomfortable feeling in the air. If not for the reaction just seconds before, but also in the strange stiffness of Natsu's facial expressions. There was also the remarkable resemblance she had to the blonde that was watching the interaction curiously which Rukia siphoned to the back of her brain for another time.

"Fine." Rukia pushed out with another sigh following just afterwards. "I'll bring Ichigo's body back and you'll transport his soul once you've done some healing, right?"

"Yeah…"

Natsu's next words were cut off by the call over her shoulder. Her first reaction, which had her growling in frustration, was to turn around and meet the eyes of the new speaker. The second reaction she had, was to go running off. She could control all of those reactions with just a small twist in her mouth and her eyes falling down to the ground. Yet she couldn't stop the utmost familiarity of the man's voice and the gentle wash that it had always cascaded over her.

Her eyes closed for a just a brief flicker of a moment before she opened them back up again so that she wasn't drawn too deep into her memories. She trailed over the tall blonde man, who she had met previously, as he handed off Ichigo's body to the short shinigami. It took a bit of shifting as the Shinigami tried to figure out the best way to tote the weight of her friend, and ended up with simply slinging an arm around her neck. She'd be going through the air anyway so she wouldn't be dragging the body through the dirt and getting it dirty.

"I'll get his body back." Rukia shifted the body a bit more and then nodded her head over to the others behind her. "Heal him up as best you can, Natsu."

"Yeah, yeah." Natsu waved off immediately. "Worry 'bout not lookin' like a wierdo in front 'is family."

Rukia leaned in close and Natsu came a bit forward seeing that Rukia wanted to whisper something. When her ear was by the other's mouth she heard the words, "be careful… These guys are really powerful."

"Che." Natsu backed up immediately and gave the woman a scowl. "Ya stealin' ma lines… Wha's next ya goin' ta take ma personality?"

"Who would want your personality?" Rukia impressed out with her childish anger but, instead of continuing with her fit, she was already moving away. "I'll meet you later, Natsu."

Natsu gave a small wave, nothing more than a flick of her hand, before she let out a long sigh. She dropped her head back and followed the sigh with a tiny mewl, which then extended out into a long grumble about how she was always cleaning up other people's messes. She turned and cocked her head as she was watching the process that the kido man had invented. It helped to block out all the other curious glances and stares that she was still accumulating to her frame. They had been there the entire time, but now, without Rukia as a distraction, there was nothing that stood between her and them. The lion in her was also sniffing out the eyes that seemed to be peering at her from the shadows in the warehouse.

Her eyes trailed up to the pink and green man that was flickering between her and the process that he was using. His gold eyes fell on her again and she blinked several times before pulling a face at the endearingly curious look he had on. His eyes were something much more simpering than the other pierces that she was getting, and there was a deep seeded honesty in his form. A small quake seemed to appear somewhere in her chest at the look and a long grimace wanted to permanently distort her face as she felt the pressure of how to act around such a man.

"Ya Hachi, ain't ya?"

He blinked several times before chuckling a bit and nodding. "How did you come to that conclusion, young Shinigami?"

""eard somethin' 'bout a rabid midget monkey stealin' 'Hime…" Natsu smirked at the chortles of laughter by her sides before she resumed, "an' tha' 'Hime was ta see someone by the name o' Hachi. An' takin' tha' 'Hime gotta technique close ta yers I 'sumed ya ta be Hachi."

"Ushoda Hachigen, but Hachi for short. It's a pleasure to meet you, as well."

Natsu waved at the large man. "So formal… Don't ya got an off switch or somethin'… Jus' call me Natsu."

"Natsu-san, then." The large man nodded before he was letting the orb disappear from around Ichigo. "I suppose you are a healer... It was an impressive assumption you made about my technique."

Natsu found her lips twisting - even a small, off-tempo beat in her chest- as her ear prickled slightly at the compliment. Her arms moved to take off her bag from her shoulder as much as they did to try at get rid of the sensation of pride. Never good to have a doctor who took pride in showing off, she had to remind herself, as she situated herself more cleanly. She pushed the bag off to the side as she angled over the boy's broken frame. Her hands deftly transferred along his torso and she found her eyes slightly narrowing down. There were definitely two reiatsus still very much apart of the injured's wound, which was large gash around his chest. There were also several other injuries and internal bleeding.

She eyed her bag slightly before she let out another long sigh. Her hands fell down onto her zanpakuto and she slid it out. She gripped it with her two hands and, after another moment of pondering, she found herself whispered out the release call in front of a group of strangers. Trying to thin out the voices in her head, she focused on the job that she had to do in front of her. She slipped the katana to her back and jammed the tanto into the ground. Her thin red film condensed immediately over Ichigo's body and seconds later a fog thickened around until his body was lost in the red gray that had absorbed him.

"If you don't mind sharing, I am very curious about your healing technique." Natsu flickered her gaze up at the large man who was observing the red box. "I have never seen anything like this."

"Don't touch." The large fingers paused and the gold eyes moved up to her and she twisted her eyes away immediately to watch and keep sense of the healing process that was going on inside. "I's pretty fragile."

"So someone can penetrate it from the outside then… How does it function?"

Natsu shifted slightly and drew an arm up so that she could rest her cheek into the palm of a hand. The large man was watching curiously and she couldn't help but shake her head. "Ain't too hard… I's jus' 'eat.

"And this heat has healing properties." Hachi rounded off with a slow nod as he gently touched along the top of the frame. Natsu narrowed her eyes at the small shimmer it gave off and evened out the area so it wouldn't break even as he retracted away immediately. "Is the material of the top your reiatsu?"

"Kinda." Natsu shrugged and then rifled through the bag by her side until she was flinging over a few papers. "Ain't goin' do silly chatta wit' ya so jus' take a look at tha', 'achi."

The pink haired man brought the small packet to his face with the palm of his hand. If he had used his fingers he would have covered up all the words, so he made do with staring down at the words that he brought up closer to his face. His eyes slunk down to small slits as he flickered them around and his mouth moved slightly. Then they moved back up to the top of the page and started the process all over again.

Natsu peered around from her analysis of the large man as she heard the shifts of feet from the others in the group. The tall blonde she had met before was leaning in close with the star-haired one by his side to try and see what Hachi was reading. They were reaching their heads up as far as they could to make out the words which were tipped slightly over towards them in consideration. The girl had jumped up and was leaning over the large man's shoulder as she literally read over his shoulder.

The final one, she could still feel off by her side. Her eyes went down to the ground, daunted at the prospect of looking too high even as the healing, sun was in that direction, taking in what she could see of his clothes. He was wearing white trousers and white loafers and Natsu let out a small puff at the horrible color choice. He didn't make moves to join them until a bit later and she watched as he sunk his feet along the ground to make his way across. It was a regular walk she was sure, but her lids became just that much heavier since she knew it so well; down to the way that the ground shifted for him. She trailed back over to the red orb and then looked up at Hachi's call to stare as faithfully as possible at the large face.

"What is this for?"

"Is wha' tha Soul Society commissioned fo' tha war." Natsu tapped at the tanto hilt as she grudgingly admitted the last part, "Kisuke's idea but he was lazy so I had ta do tha 'hole thin' fo' 'im."

"Who said we were taking part in the war?" A familiar lofty voice questioned.

Natsu gave her best dull look over to the matching face from the blonde man. "Ya neva said ya weren't... Don't tell me ya actually wastin' time trainin' Ichi jus' cause ya were bein' nice."

"You said you did this. It's very impressive, Natsu-san." Hachi cut through any other sentences that could be uttered. "Only high members of the kido corps have ever been able to do this level of demon arts."

Natsu shrugged slightly and then looked down at the ground. "I was there fo' a time… Sealin' division."

"You must have had a very high aptitude for demon arts," Hachi muttered. "The sealing division is very rigorous and takes only the strongest applicants… But even then you must have been part of the top counsel to pull off this technique. How long were you a part of the kido corps?"

"'Bout twenty 'ears," Natsu supplied as she realized that part of his explanation was more for the other members of the party that were close by. "An' it ain't tha' 'pressive ya know? Jus' takes lots o' control."

The large man let out a loud hum and she flickered her gaze up towards the smile along his face. She blanched at the radiant purity of it and then shuffled around at the intensity of his earnestness. She had never been good at dealing with people like him in the first place. She'd much rather deal with Rangiku and all her childishness since it was much easier to combat with her own sardonic immaturity than anything else. Purity always had her lion wanting to become cozy and settle down by the deep, drinking wells of trust. It was an insidious, poison that seemed to rush through her like electricity through a conductor, and swamped her with warm, gooey feeling she didn't want to have.

"Soul society's takin' care o' tha res'… Somethin' like level ninety bakudou." Natsu rushed along as she pulled her tanto up from the ground. The heat from inside the box slithered out and wafted around her feet as she slipped the small blade into its sheath. "So tha's tha only info I can give ya guys."

"Thank you for this nonetheless," Hachi supplied.

Natsu only let out a small hum as she began to shift around Ichigo's form. It had taken that long to get rid of the alien reiatsu in the boy's injuries, and she wasn't going to spend any longer than she needed to with the group. She scavenged around her bag as she waded over the internal injuries and the other cuts to seal them up slightly. She busied herself with wrapping up the injuries, once Ichigo was all stabilized internally, so that she could forego losing any more strength. She did have to make sure that she kept up with her reiatsu restoration and stabilization exercises, so Ichigo's injuries would really have to come second to that.

Her hand pressed onto his chest then and she slunk away from the body altogether, as she made do with re-sorting her medical bag. There were a few murmurs around her which she shut down quickly as she repacked up everything. She stared momentarily at the bottle she had, before she uncorked it and tipped a tiny bit into Ichigo's mouth, before she resumed with everything else. In Ichigo's unconscious state he could sweat everything off without voicing any complaints and without feeling any of the other effects. It was just a small addition.

"Ya done lookin'.." her words cut off again and the papers were flung directly at her face. She swiped at them as hard as she dared, so as not to ruin the words she had spent time writing, and turned over to the short, blonde girl that had joined the group. "Why'd ya do tha'?"

The girl with her red jumpsuit, with the jacket opened up to show off the white t-shirt that she had on, only crossed her arm. The track pants were folded up slightly to just below her mid-calves, giving the red a thick rim of white at the bottom, and she had on yellow flip flops to finish the casual look. The pigtails, which arched high on her head, waved slightly as she tossed her head over to the side with an indignant scowl going along her lips. There was just a small snaggletooth that protruded from her lips, and a tiny splattering of freckles, but other than that Natsu couldn't make out much more from the short woman there.

Natsu huffed as well and turned back so that she could stow the papers back into her medical bag. Once everything was packed away she shrunk it down and placed the bag up into her sleeve. Her hands wandered around to her back, and she resealed the zanpakuto to its normal state. With it like that, the zanpakuto disappeared immediately back into her wrist, before she found her head hitting the ground and her mouth open to the dust that swarmed in.

"Yer takin' too long dumbass."

"Hiyori." Came the several voices that were chiming to calm the girl down.

Natsu grumbled as she got up from the ground and swiped at her face to get rid of the dust. She glared in front of her, trying her best to confine her initial reaction, and then twisted around to face the short woman that were struggling in the arms of the afro man. "This 'cause I called ya a rabid, midget monkey?"

"You called me what ya moron Shinigami!"

Natsu let out a small snicker and then smirked evilly as she twitched her fingers to wave off the aggravated, questioning cry from the small woman. It only made the blonde toss herself against the steel like arms which held her tight just that much more. This, in turn, made Natsu drop her tongue out and drag an eyelid down. There was a loud growl from the girl as she attempted to tear away with that much more ferocity.

"Natsu-san please stop instigating," Hachi reprimanded softly to settle the situation much more quickly. She flicked her eyes at him slightly before dropping all her features. "Thank you for the information that you've provided."

"Che… Ya too serious. Jus' a few words on paper." Natsu grumbled slightly as she began to stand up from her squat.

"Who says we would 'elp ya Shinigami clean up yer mess?" Hiyori grumbled out again as she stopped her thrashing to be dropped down to the ground.

Natsu raised an eyebrow and slumped down as her hands went into her pockets. "This' why I 'ate talkin' ta ol' people…. Ya neva shut up do ya?" She waved off all the splutters that came from the group about their youth and continued on, "don't care wha' ya do. I jus' know tha' if ya don't show up ya cowards."

"How—"

Natsu flickered her gaze over to the afro one who was raising an eyebrow at his unfinished questioned. She let out a sigh and grumbled a bit under her breath about how she had to waste her words on them. Her hand waved about at the small growls from the ones that heard her comment, as she moved back to stare at the open entrance of the warehouse. As far as she could see there was almost nothing in there but broken ledges and an open space that they were using.

"Ya not cowards 'cause ya not helpin' Seireitei, or whateva…" Natsu teetered out the words slowly, carefully picking them before they were tossed to the group, as she came back to face the combined group. "Ya cowards 'cause ya gonna leave Aizen ta be dealt wit' by a bunch o' people ya hate instead o' doin' it yaselves."

"You know nothing."

"Righ'… I kn... I know nothin'." Natsu shrugged off the immediate words she wanted to retort. Not bothering to even care who had said the words, she looked over to see that Ichigo had already disappeared with the timed transportation kido she had placed on him moments before. "Jus' wha' I - Whateva. Ain't worth ma time tryin' ta convince ya of somethin' ya 'lready proved ya were goin' ta do in tha firs' place."

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah, that just happened. Natsu has met the Vizards officially. That went well... Right? They completely got along... Right?**

 **I had a lot of fun trying to write out this chapter. There are so many things that I want to say about it but I also don't want to ruin it at all for you all. I hope it lived up to your expectations of the first meeting. Let me know what you thought, alright?**

 **Thank you howtodreamagain for the review! Great hearing from you and I hope you found this chapter exciting.**

 **Comment/review/question/say 'hi'. Let me know what you guys are thinking. Thank you!**


	32. Chapter 31

Natsu let out a long sigh and scratched at the back of her neck. The group had been forced to reconvene at Orihime's apartment to hear an update about the situation. And so, the group was loosely spread out through the interior of the living room; making it appear simultaneously large and small at the same time. Honestly, Natsu couldn't comprehend where all the space had come from in the apartment, since everyone in the group had more than a few inches of personal space. Then again, the furniture wasn't taking up any space anymore.

Natsu's wandering thoughts spread thin as she bumped against the wall behind her. A small creak of the floorboards and the crack of sounds from the outside, placed everyone in a weird mood as they watched over one another. Keen eyes grazed dangerously as if everyone was now a suspect, trying to pick out habits which might give someone away. Yet, everyone was erratically patient as they waited for the static transmission to end and to set themselves at ease. The wait time wasn't going to last much longer, though, not from the way the door was rattling against its hinges. Natsu could already tell that it was a sure sign that Ichigo was going to come crashing through at some point. Not that he should have been moving at all with his injuries.

Apparently an incident had occurred during the second arrancar attack; a spontaneous, guerilla tactic from Aizen that Soul Society had not prepared for. It was ordered that both Rukia and Orihime would return to the human world but Orihime had left through the senkaimon to get back to the human world after Rukia. This was because the kido corps had to make sure that her body would retain its form with the usage of the spirit exchangers, and this took longer to set up. However, there was no report which mentioned her falling into the dangai, nor was there one saying that she successfully made it back Karakura Town. The girl's reiatsu couldn't be felt anywhere when they should have been able to feel her and been able to track her down by now.

Yuko had been with the human as a guard and apparently had gotten injured on the way through, which meant that a violent transgression had to have occurred. The ex-captain had already given in her report confirming those details of a potential ddecoy and completed abduction, but Hitsugaya and the rest of them hadn't been privy to all the information as of yet. Natsu was already leaning towards agreeing with Yuko, since she had no reason to lie. However, it also helped to have a mad scientist as a source of information since his assumptions always ended up being true.

The resident blonde scientist had taken Orihime off the battle field because of her time-regression abilities and he presumed that Aizen might have taken an interest in them. Considering everything with how Yuko had been injured, along with the other escort for Orihime, and apparently how the other four espada had been sent down as a distraction, it made a lot of sense with how Kisuke explained everything to her. He had whispered all this to her before she had left with Renji in the morning so that she could keep him updated about how Soul Society was reacting to the situation. And so, in some way, Natsu had once again ended up as the calm, focal point and the one subtly in charge of the situation.

Ukitake's face appeared on the screen after a long moment of buzzing static. He looked incredibly grave and Natsu closed her eyes to the image of his somber look as she slumped down against the wall. How strange it was that when a normally cheerful person looked sad how much harder the look could hit. More so, Natsu almost wanted to shudder at Kisuke's prediction. The blonde had gotten it a hole in one again with all his deductive reasoning if the white haired captain's face was anything to go by. What did that say about him? But even worse... Natsu found a small, mewling growl coming up from the back of her throat. She was going to have to rally forces and energy on her side because there was no way that Ichigo was leaving Orihime in Hueco Mundo.

 _Don't sound so disparaged Natsu_

 _I don' wanna~_

"I was the last person to see Inoue Orihime before she entered the Senkaimon," Ukitake proclaimed as his narrowed eyes came along the entire group, which now also held a healed Ichigo. "Judging from your reaction. It seems that she didn't make it over there."

"What's going on Ukitake-san? Where did Inoue go?" Ichigo worriedly called as his neck muscles strained.

Natsu roved over his form again. Orihime had definitely made it back to Karakura Town for a short time seeing how easily Ichigo was moving about. He seemed to no longer have any problems with the injuries which still should have been there, since he had not received any care from her. Certainly Natsu could have done it, but she had gone back to Kisuke's where he had given her all the information she had demanded. She had planned to go back in the morning, but they had been called to the meeting before she could get back over to Ichigo's house. Her healing was no longer necessary though, she could tell from just the way that Ichigo was holding himself.

 _So… She 'ad time 'ere 'fore she got shipped off._

 _Poor child._

 _Gave 'er a deal maybe? Seems like somethin' Aizen would do._

 _… Ever the cynic aren't you, Natsu?_

 _Jus' skeptical 'bout people… Ain't no problem wit' tha'._

Natsu "tsked" at her zanpakuto's chiding; mouth staying in a pouted frown as she turned back to the conversation that was happening before her. The weight in the room was beginning to grow increasingly stronger and wrapping around the throats of all the inhabitants as anger began to rise. Natsu could practically feel the vibrations of the shouts that were being carried through the room by Ichigo. Ukitake was under the assumption that she was killed off causing a huge ruffle to go over the group since it would be the first official death of the war. However, Ichigo was having none of it as he demanded that his injuries be proof enough that she had come back to Karakura Town for some time, even if she was no longer there. He even admitted to feeling her reiatsu in his room when he woke up in the morning.

 _He's gotten bit betta at feelin' reiatsus... Poor timin' kid._

 _Natsu._

 _Wha'?_

 _... Nothing._

"That is unfortunate." Natsu immediately shuddered; a cool, ice causing her slumped frame to become erect as the voice of the captain commander entered the picture just before he shuffled into the screen.

"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo questioned and Natsu gave a small shake of her head. For a brief moment, she saw Ichigo flick his eyes away from the screen - almost as if knowing what the old, top dog would say in this situation - before remembering that staring down the alpha is often more important in a battle of dominance.

"If your story is correct then Inoue Orihime is decidedly still alive," the old man spluttered out slowly as he talked down to the children before him. "At the same time, it also suggests an act of betrayal on her part…. Had she been abducted she would not have been allowed to see you again. If that is the case, the fact that she healed your wounds and vanished means that Inoue Orihime joined the arrancar of her own free will."

Natsu let out a small huff, puffing the air through her noise as soundlessly as possible, at the old man's thinking. Most certainly if she hadn't been made aware of Kisuke's thoughts on the manner than she would have most likely aligned with this beaten, traditional style of thinking. However when dealing with someone as tricky as Aizen, a man who built his entire life on creating false representations of himself and two other people, there's always the second layer that needed to be looked. This was something that Natsu was quickly learning to do.

The ex-captain had purposefully and heinously let the love-sick, human girl see Ichigo on the account that it would deem her traitor. It was flawless if and only if their side didn't have an equally crafty mastermind. Someone of equal, genius status like Kisuke, who could counter the chess piece that had been laid out before him, was absolutely essential to plotting against Aizen. After those words said by the wizened, decrepit looking first-division captain, Natsu was all for believing the young bloods. It hadn't steered her wrong yet. And, Natsu, was never very good at listening to old people badger on about what they knew so much about. If that was true, then the world wouldn't be in the mess it was today and Aizen would never have even become a shinigami in the first place.

 _Natsu... Don't let this become personal._

 _... Got no idea wha' ya talkin' 'bout._

 _Na-_

 _Shud up... Stupid Sou' Society._

"From here on out," Natsu tuned back in as Renji took up a firm stance in front of the screen. Her eyebrow perked slightly at the declaration. "I, Abarai Renji, vice-captain of division 6 and member of the Hitsugaya Advance squad will go to Hueco Mundo in order to open the eyes of the traitor, Inoue Orihime."

"I forbid it," the old man retaliated before any sort of celebration could be had over the redhead's quick thinking. Natsu narrowed her eyes at the sinking number of options available; leaving her with nothing but a slowly slinking hand into her shihakusho. "We know the arrancar are prepared for war so I would like all the members of the advance guard to return immediately and assist in the protection of Seireitei."

Natsu let out a small sigh; picking her cellphone from the fabrics of her sleeves. As she subtly placed her hands down towards the general area of her womb, she began to type out her message to the blonde exile. This was what the scientist had wanted to know in the first place. Every now and again she would look up and keep her eyes straight on the screen as well as the shocked Shinigami around her. They seemed desperate to prove that Orihime was completely innocent and that something else must have gone wrong.

 _Ol' people s'like arguin' ta a wall... Don't even say nothin', lion._ Every now and again, she'd look back down as she typed out what she was going to send over to the blonde. When it was done she turned the noise off, keeping it on vibrate so she would remember to look at it again once she had touched ground in Soul Society, and stowed it back into her sleeve.

"I'm glad I prepared this ahead of time."

Natsu just barely turned her head to angle toward the Senkaimon that opened up directly into the room upon the old man's call. As the figures inside the doorway came to a halt, standing half in the senkaimon and half in the human world, everyone turned to stare at Kuchiki and Kenpachi. Natsu's felt the mask slither for all of two seconds before she coolly swiped away at the burning in her throat so that she could observe what was going on. The noble had a look of utter complacence with his eyes closed before they slithered open to face at what was his new mission. Kenpachi looked absolutely annoyed to be sent on such a menial task, which had Natsu snickering a bit once she felt more comfortable. If there was anything she could really respect about Kenpachi it was the blatant disregard for rules. It was the only reason she got along with Ikkaku and Yumichika, too.

"That's how it's gonna be. Get going, you guys," Kenpachi gruffly put out.

Kuchiki took up the reigns. "Do not resist. We have orders to bring you back by force if necessary."

Natsu only stopped rolling her eyes at the contrasting messages given by the captains as she turned to face the orange head, human boy in the room. Ichigo began speaking even as they were all being ushered into the senkaimon; starting with Ikkaku and Yumichika who were closest to the senkaimon. "Tell me how to get to Hueco Mundo. Inoue is our friend, so I'll go and save her myself."

"I forbid that as well." Natsu found the corner of her mouth tugging down sharply as the softest growl rumbled in the back of her throat. Her eyes narrowed briefly as she set her mask back on her face and joined the line up without even a glance over at the orange head. "Your power will be needed in the upcoming battle. I cannot permit you to act selfishly and die like a dog…."

 _Yet, ya usin' 'im like a dog ol' man... Ta die fo' ya instead._

 _It is war time, Natsu. You must understand where the Sou-taicho is coming from._

 _Ya suck…. Human life ain't jus' somethin' ya can throw 'round._

 _You are angry at me for thinking objectively about the situation?_

 _Yes. 'Cause tha ol' man ain't dealin' wit' things wit' no souls. We human._

 _… You continue to surprise me Natsu. I never took you for someone so compassionate._

Natsu grumbled slightly to herself as she stuffed her hands into her pockets a bit deeper. "Ain't compassion."

"What was that, Natsu?"

Natsu peered over at Yumichika before slipping her deadpan look back on and hunching just a bit further into her body. "Nothin'."

The doors opened and, within an instant, everyone was tossed out to the main plaza in Soul Society which housed the senkaimon. She looked around at the subtle vegetation and the white buildings that were growing as if they were the flower blossoms coming up from the roots of grass and stalks. She peered slightly around, noticing that the group was already dispersing, and then tugged out her cellphone slightly to see that Kisuke had already responded. It left her grumbling at the use of that same smiling emoji that he used and the condescending twist that he was still able to send along with a written message.

Her eyes trailed over at the group of three which were walking away which included the stern, noble captain in the front, followed by Renji and the Rukia. The last two stared holes into the ground they walked upon; neither looking at one another. However, they seemed to be whispering with their lips softly moving about, while trying to not attract any attention to themselves. Especially with Kuchiki taicho who was walking just up ahead of them.

She gave a small whistle through the smallest slip by her teeth. Strangely it had become something that had done at the shoten when she needed his attention across the training grounds. Now like a beckoning call to a dog, it worked well to grab his attention as Renji, almost automatically, turned his head over his shoulder to look back at her. She flashed the phone over at him with a tiny little shake and his eyes narrowed before they opened up slightly and he gave a firm nod. He grabbed Rukia before she could make mention of anything. Natsu shook her head at the weird, awkwardly loving relationship that they already had going on when Rukia immediately cried out and pushed the red head away. Natsu stuffed the phone away again and slummed down again as she began to her way back to the fourth division.

 _Two days. One night…. Gotta lot ta prepare._

* * *

"Welcome home."

Natsu turned over from her inspection of the storage room to see that Ayako was standing there by the doorway. Today the mentor dawned maple color bracelets around her wrists which clanked against the wood of the door as she placed a hand on it. A small creak echoed across the empty room as Ayako pushed it open just a bit more. The new angle cast a new strip of light to come in from the hallway. Natsu squinted just a bit at the new brightness in the room and then turned back as she dragged out a roll of bandages from the back of the shelf. She jumped down from the ladder and turned back to the woman who had waited patiently for her to finish.

The fourth division had two main storage rooms that all members had access to. The first storage room had all the machinery that was used at different times like breathing machines or defibrillators. It was just a wide room that had nothing but four walls, but that had more organization seeing as all similar type machines were kept off in their individual sections. It wasn't as frequently used as the one that she was standing in at the moment. In fact, the one she was hiding away in was so frequently used that the doors were never locked, which is why she was surprised by how lucky she got as she was secretly collecting items.

This one was a wide room which had long corridors of shelf cases. Just stacks of shelves, one on top of the other, until they practically hit the ceiling with how high up they went. They held all the materials that division four needed whether that was sewing materials, bandages, posts for reiatsu resuscitation, or stretchers. Even textbooks were kept in the space. To reach the top shelves, large ladders were rather numerous in the room. For each side of the long rows, there were four ladders which slithered to any location along the corridor. Two were for the first half of the corridor and the other two ladders covered the second half of the large row.

Books were piled up towards the back, or the shelves most directly connected to the walls. This was probably the only part of the organization that she understood. Everything else made absolutely no sense to Natsu, and she was rather well known in the division for grumbling about the organization of the room whenever she was in it. It got to the point were she was once ordered to re-organize the place to her liking, but Natsu had never followed through on that. So while stretchers were easily accommodated at the bottom of the rows, the easy and most commonly used equipment was always kept at the top of the shelves. This made climbing a ladder a necessity - adding another grumble to her growing list - and the items at the top shelves weren't even correctly organized as they all sat in a chaotic jumble as a collective group.

"Yo, Ayako," Natsu responded as she moved along to another shelf to get splints. "How ya been?"

"Not bad… It's good to see you in such good condition. You seem pretty well rested and fed this time around."

Natsu automatically stuck her tongue out at the soft, yet blunt, accusation and climbed up the steps of the ladder to grab at the new plastic like material for the splints. The ones that she had in her bag were too old by now, and were made of a material which was much less flexible even if they had more bend than wood. She also swiped at some dis-solvable thread and picked up another packet of needles for emergency triage on her way back down to where her bag was on the table below.

Though she normally stuck to using kaido instead of the standard operating procedures because the latter tended to be more time consuming, this was a battle front. The likelihood that she would run out of energy was far more likely. Or her reiryoku could flare up which always presented a problem. It would be better to hold off on using kaido until toward the end of the war, so unless there was the need for major patch work she'd stick with the traditional healing first. Then she'd use kaido once the majority of the fighting had ended.

"Why are you collecting materials, Natsu?" Natsu flickered her eyes up to the lady and then back down as she shifted through the bag to reorganize it for quick access to the bandages. "You're not participating in the war… You'll be in the second line going out for healing efforts but you have time to prepare for that later on."

Natsu stopped her fiddling with the bag when Ayako's hand covered her own. She met with the blue eyes that were scrolling between her own and that harsh frown, which crinkled the skin between the eyebrows. Her mentor then shut her eyes tightly before taking in a deep breath and letting it go through her nose; so deeply that Natsu was almost sure she could make out the cloud of breath that she had just pushed out. The frown stayed in place the entire time, and grew more sunken as a few wrinkles appeared around the puckered lips. The fingers clenched down just a bit harsher and Natsu stared at the paling knuckles before her eyes fluttered to the space just off from where her bag sat on the table.

"You're doing something again, Natsu."

"Yes."

Ayako took her face within her slim hands and Natsu was forced to make eye contact with the woman who was roving just a bit deeper. "Don't withhold information from me this time."

Natsu breathed in the silence to push down the tremors that raked along her hands at the small caress on her face. Every now and again Ayako's maternal side came out this strong and Natsu would find herself in the binds of it without really knowing what to do. Her mother had died during child birth so she had never known the feeling of a woman holding her as a child, but she had also known that Ayako was a good mother almost instinctively. When Ayako spoke softly and warmly, and could egg out discipline and chiding without too many stern words, that's when Natsu felt it the most. It was never mean or condescending. It came only from a pureness that was worry and concern for the body that Natsu had easily tossed to the wolves a long time ago.

"There's a human tha' got kidnapped ta Hueco Mundo," Natsu whispered so that the air which carried her words only went to the woman's ears. "We're disobeyin' tha ol' man ta go get 'er back wit' Ichi."

Ayako pressed down along her shoulders and Natsu found herself in hug with her nose free to breathe as she soaked in the confines of the older woman's body. A hand drifted tentatively over her shaved hair and then pressed down a bit more when Natsu slowly began to pat at her back. Natsu had only really known one hug so she could only mimic it as she rubbed slightly and then patted down every now and again when it was too weird to keep rubbing.

Her hugs with Ayako were few and far between having taken a long time to build up a good camaraderie and then to trespass over that into something more familial. The first hug they had shared had been after a bad bought with her reiryoku and she had disappeared for over a three days. Having spoken to both Natsu and Unohana about what happened during the episodes, Ayako had known at the time what might have been the cause but she had never experienced it first hand until that moment. She had been the one to find Natsu and did her best to nurse the sodden frame she had stumbled upon. When it had passed over, Ayako was so caught up in shock that she planted a hug without much thinking and held so tightly it had choked Natsu. After that incident, they returned to normal but every now and again Ayako would be the first to hug and Natsu would reciprocate as quickly as possible. It left the lion in her nicely curled up like a gentle, kitten whenever that happened and so Natsu had to make sure to finish everything fast.

Natsu pulled away first, as it always was, and then flashed a smirk with her teeth gleaming in the lights. "Don't cha start cryin… Ya face looks 'orrible wit' poofy eyes."

"As you always say, Natsu…. You suck," Ayako whispered back and brushed a few pieces of fringe away from her dry eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

"I can't sit still while tha war's goin on." Natsu shrugged slightly as she fixed up the bottles in her bag. She had already dumped the sheets of paper and the team communicator back in her room when she had stopped briefly at the place. "Sides I like 'Hime so make's sense I go afta 'er too."

"Even at the cost of punishment?" Ayako questioned pulling Natsu back to look at the woman, whose only feature was a cautious expression of worry along her eyes. "The sou-taicho won't like this at all."

"When tha war's won ain't nothin' goin' ta matta ta 'im." Natsu pulled a twisted thinking face before sticking her tongue out at the thought. "'E'll shout a bit but don't see 'im doin' anythin' too bad."

"What am I going to do with you Natsu, huh? You're always running off now a days."

Natsu pulled a face and then shrunk it into a grimace as her eyes started blandly down at the table in her disgust. "I'mma gonna need like a month's nap ta make up ma quota."

"Of course." Ayako chuckled slightly and then swiped at her mentee's shoulders getting rid of invisible lint. Her face trailed into one of contemplation before they sharpened on Natsu's face again. "Would you be doing this if you didn't like the humans, Natsu?"

Natsu trailed her eyes away and zipped up the bag. It shrunk up like she ordered it and then she placed it into her sleeve. Her hand fluttered around her shihakusho a bit to make sure that she still had the fourth division communicator, which was the way she'd be able to stay on top of the war, as well as the cellphone to stay in touch with Kisuke. She'd have no time to come back to the fourth division, or anywhere else for that matter, since she'd have to get to that secret underground training spot to build up the garganta which Kisuke had given her the directions for.

She let out a small hum next as she still pondered over the question. Ayako was waiting with her ever persistent gaze, even though they had smoothed out into something of easy comprehension. Her mentor could probably already tell that the silence was answer enough, and that there was still that imposition for her to voice out the tiny whisper in her thoughts. It kept coming and beckoning her to sound it all out, but she chewed it up every single time.

 _I ain't sentimental._

"pends on tha situation I guess." Natsu muttered but a look in Ayako's honest eyes was enough to slightly backtrack. She sheepishly let out a slow confession next, "yeah…. I'd do it."

Ayako gave a proud smile and a nod full of energy. "That's what makes you a great healer Natsu."

"Whateva." Natsu brushed off the giggling from the woman in front of her and pushed her mentor out of the room so that she could lock up the conversation tightly - to a point it'll never be remembered - and hopefully get out of the fourth division without being stopped by her captain. "I gotta request fo' ya, Ayako."

"What is that?"

"I need ya ta get ta the ol' man an' tell 'im ta 'xpect some ol' visitors durin' tha war so 'e gotta play nice like an' all."


	33. Chapter 32

She had shaped the two wooden blocks per Kisuke's directions and then stuck them into opposing mounds somewhere in the vast desert which was the underground training center. That was the easy part of the process. What took the majority of hours of her force retreatment from society and, more importantly, a good amount of sleep, was preparing the kido on them so that it would open a stable garganta. She sent a small text over to Kisuke telling him that she had finished up with the project. It was a curt, one word message designed to tell him that he would only need to stabilize the garganta from his side, instead of them sneaking out to Karakura Town like delinquent children and abusing him until he allowed them to use his passage. Because he would never just give them access to it even though he had proposed the idea himself. Kisuke responded that it was "lucky they had such a scary girl to help them out~"; along with another smiley face emoticon.

She grumbled under her breath and fashioned the phone away into her medical bag, and then took out her fourth division communicator and stuck it into her ear so she could constantly be kept aware of all the orders going on in Soul Society. The fourth division was one of the only squads that had to constantly be in direct contact with their communication devices. They had to be ready at a moments notice to run out. Not just to a war front, but also to battle grounds where hollows had been found and to the human world if a shinigami needed immediate treatment and could not wait until their return. Both types of incidents had happened such a numerous amount of times that it was basically common place to see fourth division members chatting away into the mouth pieces of their devices. Natsu was surprised that fourth division didn't all have deformed ears from how often they had to wear them. Oh, and the amount of complaining she did about the pain it caused before she decided to not wear it at all, which only resulted in a stern word of advice from dear, old captain Unohana.

She let dreams take her for the rest of the evening as she settled on her back along the dust floor of the training ground, with her hands crossed behind the back of her head. It was more memories of looking up to the sun and the endless days she had spent cuddled up against his neck with the smell of cinnamon, which was learnt retrospectively, against her nose. The spice was so enveloping like the rhythms of jazz music that he sometimes had playing while they lazed around outside. They had stretched out along the grassy plains by the Kotomi household, and had wafted back and forth between reality and the dreamscape together. His hand was placed along her back so that he'd awaken whenever she moved about, and her grip was firmly glued into his shihakusho while the other nestled into his long, blonde tresses. Her thoughts turned briefly to wondering if he remembered anything like this in the same way she did; with a leaden heart beat that hurt as it clattered up against her chest.

He moved first in the memory and her eyes had blinked open slowly at the movements he made before draping back down. Her auburn-honey freckled eyes grew a bit larger as she felt herself lifted up above the man's head, with only her torso supported so her legs fell down limply. She had little control over the strength of her muscles, even at that time, so they wiggled lethargically in the air at the position. She really must have been that lazy from that young of an age. Or maybe she was always bad at waking up? She found herself looking into the light brown eyes that were looking at her and she let out a small, whiny gurgle which got her a taunting shake of the head from the man below her. She attempted it again, fingers furling and unfurling in chubby palms, which only got the man to grin out long along his face and show off a glinting smile which was filled with straight teeth.

"Natsu."

Her eyes blinked open and all the images whisked away at the sight of the overbearing, fake, white clouds which only moved when she become hypnotized by them from staring too much. Her eyes drifted back shut hoping for just that bit of good luck as she twisted around so that her hands felt more comfortable against the ground. A forceful slap stung along her fore-head. It pounded her down into the ground, most likely leaving a small dent at the collision, before she was shooting up; literally into a sitting position from the velocity of the slap. She immediately touched the area that was beginning to sting and let out a grumble as she glared up at a very unimpressed Renji; with a curious Rukia looking at the exchange from behind the larger man.

"Wha'cha do tha' fo'? I was sleepin'."

"I noticed," Renji said shortly as he arms crossed. Natsu immediately spotted the small tan cloaks that they were wearing before letting out a loose, string of incoherent nonsense that she couldn't even recognize. "We got to get moving, Natsu. Our absences will have been noted by now."

Natsu fixed up her hair and rubbed out the small crusts that had accumulated from her eyes. She had actually been sleeping longer than she had assumed as she did a small internal check. Her reiryoku was flat and ready for action from having used it earlier, and her limbs were a bit sticky as she stretched them out. Everything in her body had slowed down like it did after a rejuvenating sleep and she let out a small sigh at the knowing. It was good she would go into Hueco Mundo fully charged at least. She could only expect that there would be an uncertain amount of company from the arrancars when they arrived.

"I got everythin' set up with Kisuke. So I'mma ready when ya guys are." Natsu slowly walked over toward the two rocks which had the wooden posts embedded in them. "Jus' needs ta be opened an' Kisuke's doin' tha res' o' tha work."

"You good Rukia?" Renji called.

Rukia nodded slowly; her calm look constrained by the nervous furrow of her brow. As her eyes shifted about between the garganta, she finished with a firm second nod after she checked her zanpakuto for the last time. "Let's go."

Natsu looked between the two of them and then nodded herself. "Ya know how tha garganta works righ'?" They nodded with jerks of their heads and she let out a small hum as she then jumped onto the large spoke. She settled on top of it in a kneel with her hands pressing down as well. "Get ready then…. My right hand is the stone that bridges worlds. My left hand is the blade that binds realty. The black-haired shepherd is hung from a chair. Stratus clouds come, and I strike down the ibis."

A long line of blue stretched out connecting the two beams together to begin forming the gate. Natsu looked up from the wood as her words came to an end and her focus on the kido wasn't as paramount. Her eyes just made it to the sight of the formation of the garganta beginning to come together. The eye-shaped gate opened up to show the dark void space that was the passage between the two realms. Rukia and Renji jumped through immediately; without even a word over their shoulders. She would have been offended - after all she put in hard work and didn't get a 'thank you' - but she focused more on fashioning the self destruct seal on the spoke. As she swung through the gate, the spoke gave small pops as flames began to encapsulate them. It was the only way to make sure that they couldn't be followed, although she highly doubted that they old man would be sending anyone after them immediately. To make up for the garganta's destruction, she was also positive that she could recreate it in some way in Hueco Mundo if necessary.

"You're coming with?" Renji spied her as he stopped his run just up ahead of where Natsu was joining the two.

Natsu gave a slow nod and then pointed behind her. "I 'ploded tha gate back there so no one can follow… An' a heala's always good ta 'ave wit' ya. Anyway, if I stayed I'mma goin ta get pounded by tha ol' man 'cause there's jus' no way he ain't knowin' i's me tha' 'elped ya guys."

"Did you really have to explode the entrance?" Rukia murmured a bit as they started in their run again toward the other end, which didn't really seem to be in the direction they were headed but most likely was. That was the thing about the space of the garganta. "What if it closes up at the other end?"

"Kisuke…. 'Sides, tha garganta ain't like tha senkaimon… It'll open up jus' cause it'll want ta spit us out."

"Couldn't you have explained that in a nicer fashion?"

Natsu smirked slightly at the small squirm the small Shinigami gave and then shrugged which jostled her jog just a little bit. "Ain't no otha way ta 'plain it though. Sorry."

The void space was a weird place. Natsu's eyes picked on the swirling reishi that seemed to be in constant movement. It would only solidify long enough so that they could use it like a pathway, but it would then disappear immediately afterwards. There was a dissonance in the space like a total chaos of disharmony as none of the reishi could ever get along with one another. Other than that the space was something swirling dark purple, almost black, and looked like a massive, but very thinned out, thunder cloud as they continued to travel through it.

"Is there a time difference between the two spaces?" Rukia suddenly questioned and Natsu looked over at her. "Like in the dangai?"

"I wouldn't think so… This is an official portal," Renji supplied with a casual shrug as he looked over his shoulder at them. Ever wanting to be the leader he had taken up the front post. Or he was just a flamin' battle idiot like 'Kaku. One or the other.

Natsu gave her own grudging answer to eradicate the sudden nervousness on the stout shinigami's face. "At tha rate we're goin', i's not gonna matta much… We'll be there soon if we goin' at this pace."

Rukia looked over at the other woman and then nodded slowly at the odd burst of confidence the words had given her. They were like water after eating something dry; a reminder of why they had to continue forward regardless of the worries that they were facing. Just said in the most unmotivating, nonchalant voice that the noble had ever heard. Whatever had been on Natsu's face a few days before at the warehouse was already gone and swept clean away as it had relaxed into what appeared to be her perpetual look of deadpanned boredom. Even the slope in the woman's shoulders as she jogged seemed completely normal again.

They hadn't known each other at all up until a few months ago. It was only now that Rukia could see the subtle differences as she looked back on how forcefully Natsu had been at commanding the situation at the warehouse, and even before then. Those differences were coming to light very quickly from how Natsu often presented herself as. Rukia peered again at the open mouth which showed the woman's two front teeth; creating a thin line of white that was normally there between her lips. Then at the small slant of those oddly freckled eyes, as Natsu kept her eyes half-lidded. The boredom which was reflected didn't waver for even a moment as they continued forward. Her two tails of bronzed hair were flapping behind her as she jogged, with her arms completely perpendicular to the space and set straight ahead without any falter.

A small, yet happy, smile came along her face as she took in the quick glance from the taller shinigami that was tossed her way. Natsu always appeared the same, with only subtle differences to give her away. Rukia supposed that was the only way that the other knew how to act, but in a way it was the perfect way to be. The nonchalance was a great change from the more nervous reactions that Rukia had seen; as if there was never a need to fully panic about a situation.

"Wha?"

Rukia only shook her head slowly and then faced the front. Natsu wasn't anything like her and there was no need to go prying into an area that was clearly not for her understanding as a new coming friend. She could think later about that warehouse situation: why those two had looked so similar to one another, why that strange blonde had been keen to try and look at Natsu's face so much, and why Natsu had ignored all the stares at the back of her head.

Rukia slipped out something else that she felt far more valuable in the moment. "I'm just… Kinda of glad that you came along with us."

"Huh?" Natsu questioned as Rukia sped up slightly so that she was closer to the redhead who had also glanced back curiously. "Why's tha'?"

"Because I trust you."

Natsu blinked her eyes several times. She was just able to catch the rough laugh coming up from her stomach and thinned it out to a snicker under her breath as she spotted the very honest look on Rukia's face. A grin fashioned on her face before Natsu shrugged slightly and jumped a bit so that she could slap the younger girl's shoulder. Rukia went stumbling forward a bit but managed to stay upright and continue forward even through the small fluster of the moment.

"Ain't tha sentimental type, Ru… But ya not too bad yaself," Natsu replied with that grin still along her face.

"You didn't need to hit me."

Renji huffed slightly and let out a small snark, "stop fooling around you two. I think we're getting close to the other end."

"No need ta be jealous, Ren… Females ain't ma type."

"Shut up!"

The three of them fell through the sudden opening and plummeted down into the sands below them. Natsu's stomach lifted up to her throat at the unexpected drop; her previous, goading look disappearing for all but a moment at the sudden shift. As a smirk re-appeared on her face, she bent her knees and then tossed herself a bit more full speed down towards the sands. She fell into a roll along the dune, dodging all the pain of landing face first into the packed sand, as she somersaulted straight back onto her feet. She steadied herself with her two arms out just slightly and shook out her head to get rid of the swerving vision.

Natsu raked her eyes over the dunes of white sands that were spread out before them in an endless ocean as soon as her vision stopped swimming. There were boulders even further back which she couldn't make out very clearly so she may have been confusing them for more dunes of sand. However, her eyes wandered up immediately to stare at the sky. She had read once about the continuous night that overtook the entire space - a statement to the solemn darkness that persisted in Hueco Mundo - and it seemed to be the only truth that held fast even through the rumors. The sky was darkened so that there was no light except the crescent moon that was directly before them and enlarged to take up a large portion of the space. A few clouds tinkled along the sky but there were nothing else in sight.

Natsu had always been taught that the sun was vital. It was a necessary as food and as necessary as water to foster growth and to help the living. It gave sense of time and was connected intimately with warmth. Yet, in a world with no sun, there was a still something living. There were arrancars and hollows. There were even trees and small sprouts cropping up in some places. Her hands took in a small, withered branch between her fingers and snapped it off so that she could examine it a bit whilst the other two were making it out of their compacted state in the sand.

 _Ain't reishi… Interestin'_

 _Something crystalized?_

 _…. Ya talkin' ta me now?_

 _You were the angry one. I chose to stay away from you so as not to anger you anymore._

Natus dropped the piece as she roved over the expanse again. Her body moved similarly and now that she could focus on her lungs she knew that the reishi was the same as the one in Seireitei. She moved about just a little more and tested out if the air would give them any resistance, but it was exactly as the same as in Seireitei or when they had finished adjusting to the the human world. Meaning, it would give them no problems either fighting or moving, which was something that she couldn't have prepared for ahead of time. Luck, in this instance, had paid off. Or, alternatively, she could have just asked Kisuke, as he would probably have known, but she remembered that she had thought that question to bothersome to put up with dealing with that blonde another time. Especially, after that smiley face he tagged to the end of his message.

She turned fully around to see that Renji was helping Rukia out of the sand and stuffed her hands into her pockets as she waited for them to finally come up near her. She gave a small nod and looked over her shoulder shortly after their inclusion on her observations. "We ain't in tha fores' which is a good thin' 'cause means we don't got ta mess wit' tha menos. Now we jus' got ta find Ichi an' tha others."

"Others?" Rukia questioned as she fixed up the cloak on her shoulders.

Natsu gave a small nod. "Kisuke tol' me he recruited Chad an' tha quincy ta 'elp Ichi out."

"Chad and Uryu?" Renji gave an impressed nod as he too checked over his body for everything. "Let's get going then… I can make out Ichigo's reiatsu from here."

"I's good this place's so much like Seireitei… Othawise it was goin' ta be a pain ta move 'bout but we got lucky."

The three of them headed over in the area that there was a sudden reiatsu shift. Maybe even the grains of sand had moved but it was impossible to tell when they were so small and they all looked the same. Natsu fell behind the other two as they ran. Healers weren't technically supposed to take the front lines, and were supposed to drop behind the initial fighters. If a healer got injured than it could mean death to the fighters. That was the teachings they were given when they joined the fourth division and given emergency triage training. It was the dominant agreement between the fourth division and all other divisions; one which was adamantly adhered to. Should it not be followed on the ineptitude of the fighter, there were severe consequences. Probably, something which didn't gain them a lot of respect from other divisions - especially the eleventh division - , as the rule made it seem like the fourth division's lives were more of a priority than those of the fighters'. She had always been a weird combination but she had also been reluctant to fight so she always made the call to drop behind the fighting ranks and join the other healers.

Before they had even hit the sight of the attack they could see the shift in the landscape. There was a huge hollow standing up in the sky, looking as if it was connected directly into the ground. It was so large that its features were easy to make out even at the distance. He had dark eyes, a large nose, and its mouth was opened up wide to show its straight teeth from the gums down. The head seemed to protrude out of what looked like to be the surface of a sand castle, with the circular shape of the head and the way that the top of its head carried the defensive architecture of a battlement tower.

The sand was quickly slipping away from them and the three stopped short as they saw the group getting sucked down into a large pool of something like quicksand. There was the cry for water and both Renji and Natsu both looked over at Rukia who was slipping her zanpakuto out. She released it quickly and then held it up close to her face as her knees started to bend.

"Next dance… White ripple," Rukia stated calmly as her reiatsu began to leak out and a giant frost came through it.

Natsu blinked at the sight as the large hollow was swarmed with ice and then nodded slightly as she slipped her hands into her pockets. She could make out Ichigo's group looking around confusedly for a few moments before their group stilled at the vision of their new members. She exchanged a few glances with her other two companions before they flung themselves down the large dune and into the pit that had been created. Ichigo seemed to be following there movements as he jumped off of the large monster that he had been riding on and moved a bit closer; followed shortly by the rest of his cohert.

"Rukia, Renji… And Natsu, too." Ichigo had a small smile on his face as he continued his jog over to them. "You guys…"

Rukia swung out immediately and sent a punch to the underside of his jaw before he could say anymore. Natsu let out a small huff and slumped down a bit more. Her eyes took in the interaction as Rukia physically handed the punishment over to Renji with a high five. Renji then sent a swinging fist right across Ichigo's face, the opposite one that Rukia had hit, which had him stumbling back by Uryu and Chad that had come up as well.

"Fool!" Rukia cried out in her mock protest. "Why would you ever enter Hueco Mundo alone? Why didn't you wait for me?"

Ichigo got up with a small look of indignation as he explained his reasoning. "You left like that. I didn't know if you were gonna come back or…"

"Of course I was coming back… By any means necessary." Rukia shouted into his face as she prowled up close to him and was forcing him to hunker down metaphorically and literally. Ichigo immediately backtracked but his words were lost as Rukia marched through them on her tirade. "Renji and I had it planned from the start. Natsu wanted to help… Why didn't you wait for it? We are your allies aren't we, Ichigo?"

Ichigo smoothed out his features as he began to comprehend the words from the small Shinigami as if he had never heard of such a concept before. "You're…. right."

"Hmph." Rukia huffed as she got back up with a scowl on her features still. "It's good that you know that… Do not ever make me confirm such a foolish thing again... Let's go."

Natsu was walking over towards a new kind of monster - undoubted some type of hollow, though it didn't appear to be aggressive - as the strange grouping hollows, human, and quincy piled up near it to start on the next part of their travels. In her transverse over, Ichigo called out to her and she looked over at him expectantly. He wiped at the blood from his nose from the harsh punch that Renji had given him and then gestured sullenly at his form. "You're not going to hit me?"

"Boke…. Tha's too much work." Natsu shrugged slightly and then weakly flapped her arms that were halfway down her pockets. "I can't 'it ya fo' ya thinkin' anyway… Woulda made tha same assumption too."

Ichigo gave a slow nod and then came up closer to her and clapped down on her shoulder. "I'm surprised you're here… I know you helped out with the other rescue but I didn't think you'd go out of your way again."

Natsu only responded with another shrug as she teetered back around to join the group. As her eyes picked up the odd placements of internal groups, she made her way over to the hollows that were a bit further off from her comrades. They too, however, were by the large monster which upon her second, more observant, glance seemed to be a large, snake like hollow. The small child looking one with green hair and a grim-reapers mask that was cracked got increasingly worried and hid immediately behind the other two who both began stumbling backwards.

Natsu raised an eyebrow at the skittish movements before slowly pointing at the monster that they had appeared to be riding before. "Ya mind if I get on."

The larger of the two obvious hollows had large eyes that were pointed on her. His face took up the majority of his body, all the way down his torso. He had a large mouth with straight teeth as well as a large nose with his nostrils flaring quickly. While his mask was white in color everything was outlined in a pinkish red color, like where he forehead would be, the line that connected to his nose and the nose itself, his lips, and even his chin. There was a pink design over his eyes as well, which brought out the yellow color of them. Oddly enough the eyes had vertical lines running through them and only two black spots, which looked more like holes that were his pupils.

He adorned some sort of body suit over his white form, Natsu also noted. It was yellow in color but had black spots painted on what looked like his arms, legs, and his back. There even looked like there was a hood that he could bring over his head if he so chose. However those were the only clothes as his feet were bare of anything.

The smaller of them looked a bit more like an insect type hollow with large mandibles and horns to give off that appearance. He only had one yellow eye that she could make out from the darkness, while the other was covered up by a purple eye patch that would go across the eyebrow area if he had had any. It appeared that he also had hair, since there were some blonde hairs that were sticking out from the back of his mask which she could see ruffling at the back of his shoulders and sticking out just a bit.

He was purple in color and was very slender in his frame. He was wearing something like body armor over his form that was white in color. It contained a chest plate, which showed off the hole in his abdomen, white gloves which extended up his entire forearms, and white boots which went all the way up to his knees. He adorned a purple loin cloth around his waist which went down between his legs.

"Y… You're asking us?" the smaller one asked from behind the bigger guy.

Natsu let out a small huff and then nodded. "Yeah… I ain't gonna steal ya ride. Not gonna 'urt ya eitha."

"You speaked funnily."

Natsu blinked down at the small girl that had yapped out suddenly from behind her body guards. Her two brown eyes took up the majority of her face and had large eyelashes that made them even larger. She had a pink strip that ran all across her face, over the bridge of her nose, and a scar that seemed to have been created by the split in her skull mask on the top of her head.

Upon further consideration, Natsu could see that the girl's hair was more a teal, but it seemed greener because of the green tarp dress that adorned her frame. She was a tiny thing, probably no more than the age of seven human years if Natsu assumed. Her speech was also heavily patented by her childlike features and the lack of teeth added to the childlike amusement of her innocent appeal.

"Just get on Natsu," Ichigo called down from on top of the monster.

Natsu gave him a slight frown before shrugging and then hopping on board. The group that she had observed cried out suddenly and she heard a few weeps, though she could not make out exactly what they said, before they were trailing behind her. They were obviously arrancar, albeit very weak ones, because there was no other way that they would have been able to maintain a more humanoid form otherwise. They also knew of their own apparent weakness since they seemed extra cautious as they stayed in the back from their 'enemies'.

Natsu turned over to them slowly as the monster started to make a cautious run across the sounds. They "eeped" together and scuttled a bit further back. Natsu groaned at the back of her throat. If she hated polite people, she also hated dealing with overly nervous ones too. She dumped over onto her side as if she was about to fall asleep, or had been pushed over by the nervous energy that they were excreting. She fashioned her arm up and leaned against it in pure relaxation to the vibrations of the monster beneath.

When they had settled, she brought up the original topic she wanted to at the beginning. "Wha's ya names?"

"I… I'm Birstanne Dondochakka. Older brother to both Persche and Nel." The larged faced one supplied after a small glance to his other compatriots.

The slender one stepped forward slightly and bowed a bit with his hand over his chest. "Gatishe Pesche at your service."

"Nel!" The child one called out immediately after and they were done.

Natsu nodded slowly and then pointed her finger one after another at each of them as she spoke to them. "Don. Pez. An' Nel." She waved off their complaints at the chopped over names before pointing to herself. "I'mma Natsu."

* * *

 **A/N: And so the war begins! Not to give too much away but Natsu's got some stuff coming up... I'm so excited to see what you all think about the future chapters!**

 **As you all know, comment/review/question/say 'hi'/etc... I really like hearing from you guys.**


	34. Chapter 33

The worm wriggled smoothly over the plains of white sands. Endlessly before them, the sand stretched out as if someone with no imagination had conjured up this place of a barren wasteland. Yet, it couldn't be described as dead, as they slipped through a small pocket of white trees and sprouts every now and again. Ironically, Natsu hated to point it out, this world was almost the exact opposite of her inner world. Sekhmet's dunes of rolling, golden granules and ever present sun contrasted so strongly with Hueco Mundo that it was impossible not to notice. She wasn't sure which felt more alive as she sunk within the roaming thoughts of her brain. The endlessly, important sun in her world became an unmovable moon, and what illuminated the world was not the heat of the day but the calm shadows of the night. It set some of her skin on fire as the prickling sensation when the sun met her skin was missing, leaving her bare, almost naked, and alone underneath the moonlight. And yet the sound of sand skirting the area with the wind as its navigator and as its waves was so familiar that it put her at ease if she let herself float in the space.

 _No wonda people like tha nigh'._

 _How rude._

 _A' leas' i's quiet._

 _I repeat. How rude._

 _I's not like I'mma yearnin' fo' tha hea' all tha time_

 _You've missed it when it's been gone_

 _... Che. Don' know wha' ya talkin' 'bout._

 _What? No comeback, Natsu?_

 _Shudup._

"Oh, that's right," Ichigo exclaimed suddenly as the thought occurred to him, and slid backwards from his forward leaning position to fall onto his hands to support his weight. The group had fallen silent after the masses of introductions and the uproarious behavior of getting on the worm-like hollow. A calmly driven peace had settled around them, as well, as no one felt like an immediate threat to their security. The plains of sand obscured any animosity that they could have held for one another. "Natsu?"

"Yeah." Natsu grumbled out underneath her breath, hoping that it would get Ichigo to stop with his line of conversation. As she continued laying back on her two hands, body shifting with the worm as it moved, with her eyes closed, she kept feeling the strange magnetism that was the pressure of someone's attention being on her. It was not his eyes just yet, but it was as if the electrical signals in Ichigo's brain were calling out to her and not letting her relax. "I'mma tryin' ta sleep."

Ichigo rolled his eyes dramatically as he twisted a bit further into his hand to stare over at her from his shoulder. She certainly was relaxed, he thought, with her arms crossed lazily behind her head to support it as a pillow, and her eyes closed heavily to prevent anything from disturbing the black image of sleep. Knowing that this was just how she was, he couldn't even think of becoming infuriated, although, as he continued to speak, he was less than impressed with her attitude. "This isn't time to sleep idiot."

"Whatta ya want Ichi?"

"Are you going to wake up?"

"Whatta ya wan'~" Natsu groaned out as she dragged the last syllable, a long, deep sound from the back of her throat, - because she's never had the energy to make it higher-pitched and squeaky like she's seen girls do to tease men - through the air to get Ichigo to focus again.

"Are you related to Hirako?"

Natsu's eyes slowly came to an open to stare up at the night sky as a sudden weight dropped upon her; compressing her lungs, draining her energy, and the lion in her let out a tremendous roar which rattled her brain of any coherent processing thoughts. Her ears muffled up the groans from Ichigo and, like a slug, her eyes roved over to the side as she made out what made Ichigo make a sound like that. Her head followed as a delayed reaction as the processing time slowed. Everything came out like a vignette, almost, and she could watch the moving images millisecond by millisecond.

She caught the movements of Rukia leaping forward through the air around her and crashing into Ichigo. Nel fumbled her way out of the orange head's lap as she watched with tears forming in her eyes trying to get Rukia to stop pulling at Ichigo's cheeks or knocking at the boy's head with her fists. Ichigo was shouting in protest and grappling back as he tried to pull away from the aggressive, adopted noble who was persistent in making him realize that he had no tact at all.

The rest of the group, having known nothing, was observing with their own expressions of woe and disappointment about the character of their "great leader" for this escapade. Renji only rolled his eyes at the interaction with his arm crossed as he sat up straight with his crossed legs, mumbling something about being an idiot underneath his breath. The two other hollow companions were trying to wrestle Nel out of the violent interaction, who was equally trying to get involved in it to stop the fighting. Tears were flooding the space, causing the worm to let out a strangled cry of confusion which had Pesche reverting his attention to calm down the beast. Chad and Uryu were the only ones who seemed to make a few connections, but they didn't really know about Ichigo's training, and therefore about the truth of the Vizard group, so they looked the most confused by the mentioned statement.

Natsu slowly sat up, back clicking vertebrae by vertebrae as it lengthened her posture, and then stood up effortlessly as she began to drag over towards the tussling group and loud front-end of the worm. Her walk shifted as she went; coming out like the prowl of her lion, chest expanding to make way for a roar which would call to the others so that the pride could begin their hunt. The prey was just up ahead; just within the reach of its claws and watching it squirm raised her hackles and barred her teeth. The lioness crashed up against the pen at the hurricane of emotion that swept through; burning Natsu's own fingers as she was trying to hush it back to its calm state. It was an impossibility as the lioness was ready to pounce and ready to hunt with its blood-lust rocketing to the top notch of the barometer.

It had been a long time since she had heard the name. It had been a long time since she had whispered that curse on her own tongue and, even, in the depths of her own mind. The lion was set a flame, hackles rising from the molecules that made up the cells of its organs and body, like the burn of the man's reiatsu and the lingering cinnamon she had never been able to fully get rid of was always there - stored - to set her alight at a moment's notice. She may have done away with the ghosts for a bit, but it seemed that they could latch back onto her at any time. They could still possess her as if she was in the yesterday of her memories, slumped up between the wall and broken glass.

The fighting began to slowly dissipate as the squabbling group noticed she was coming closer. It grew more silent as she came and stood right in front of them; her hands disappeared into the folds of her pockets and her shoulders once again slumped heavily over her chest. As she squatted down before them, eyes angled up but head all but disappearing into the confines of her body, the silence of the moment dominated and won the fight. Rukia, the one to put an end to the physical altercation, looked the most worried with her eyes wide but her brows furrowed. Her fingers slowly fell away from the boy's cheeks who immediately was grumbling even under Natsu's inspection. Both of his cheeks were reddened and he made do with stretching out his jaw by opening his mouth and scrunching up his features, even as his eyes stayed fixated on her.

"Ichi… I ain't got no idea who ya talkin' 'bout." Natsu kept her eyes firmly on the boy who was about to speak and then tapered off under her sharpened gaze. "Ma looks are singula… Ya must 'ave confused this guy wit' someone else."

"R…. Right."

Natsu gave a small nod and then, after another close inspection of the young, human boy's face, morphed her expression down to its normal lazed position as she came to another standing position. This time she stood the right way, as she rolled out the tension that had her standing so rigidly for those few moments before, and watched the scene before them. The monster was slowing down slightly and she could see why since they were basically at the large white wall that made up the weird palace that Aizen had created in the long stretch of desert. It was a large square building, which had a dome in the center of it that reached up even further into the night sky. It was then surrounded by several pillars, which most likely went along the entire radius of the place, and were shaped like cylinders that branched out at the bottom; like an inverted umbrella so that they could get more support from the ground.

She hopped down first, followed swiftly by Rukia who walked up closely to her side. There was a small tug on her forearm and she peered over at the purple eyes that were roving over her face. Rukia spoke softly as the rest of the group was jumping down. "I'm sorry about Ichigo. He really does lack tact."

"I really ain't got no idea what ya talkin' 'bout…. S'no problem."

Rukia first gave a small twitch of her head, before silently nodding at her words. Whatever moment the noble had considered having was swept away with the granule of white sand with the march forward which sent everything flying in various directions. Natsu watched plainly as the stout woman walked up until she could touch the wall. "What are we going to do about this wall? - It doesn't seen to be made of sekkiseki."

"If its not sekkiseki," Ichigo retorted as he also took a look at the wall from his position a few steps away from them, "then that means we can use force... Let's go Renji."

"Idiot… You're not the one running this show," the red head blandly put forth as the two came side by side.

The two began to draw out their zanpakuto as Rukia scurried away quickly and backtracked all the way to Natsu. Natsu shook her head and then brought her arm up to cover her face as the wall began to crack after just two hits from the unsealed zanpakuto. Somewhere in the chaos, she could feel the way that Uryu, Chad, and Rukia were clumping together to shelter away from the debris that was flying about. The overly, aggressive boys both let out another terrific shout, an excessive grunting that was becoming grating to her ears, and the wall finally caved under the pressure to leave a massive hole with large amounts of rubble that toppled both inside and outside from the blast.

"Bokes," Natsu spluttered as she swiped at the dust and rubbed at her ears which were ringing slightly. As she stepped a bit closer to the door that they had created, she ended up standing next to the wall of ego which seemed to radiate out from the two.

"What is you doing? If yous needed a gate there's one about three days walking from here," Nel cried out as she gestured frantically over towards the right of them.

Natsu bypassed Renji on her way forward, tuning out the strange, small cries from Nel and the strong words from Ichigo about not having time. Her eyes peered into the growing darkness that made up the direction that they were going to follow and wondered briefly at how deep the walls stretched. Would one blast mean that they could make it into the main building of the palace? Or how many more times would Ichigo and Renji have to do the same thing to chip away at the walls? Perhaps, it wasn't wall at all but just a dark corridor that they had stumbled on which had no lighting because it wasn't used. It could be something that Aizen would think of, and it looked hollow all the way through.

Natsu backed away just slightly, continuing to try and make out any image that was further down the tunnel. _I's goin' ta get rough, I guess._

 _…. You're already regretting this, Natsu?_

 _If I stayed, I could 'ave been sleepin' righ' now._

 _Be more excited! You're participating in war._

Natsu blanched at the lion that had interceded the calmer voice of the human Sekhmet. Of course it would rear its ugly, head at the idea of fighting all over again. It probably got a small hint of hollow carcass or blood in the air and woke up from its long nap. It had been but a nice dream that it had stayed relatively quiet during her training and during all the projects she had been doing in the human world. Normally, the lion would become more quick to irritate the weaker she was from her attacks. Something about protection instinct, no doubt, though nothing is as protection as a healer toward a patient. But, in fact, she had barely heard even a snicker from the lion form since the last battle with the arrancar and she had assumed that cutting it off early in that fight had made it too angry to communicate with her.

 _Now ya wanna figh', huh._

 _Don't cut me off early again, moron… I won't be so nice next time._

Natsu turned her head back as Nel began to let out turbulent cries, trying to stop the immediate glare that wanted to overcome her face at the loud sound. Not only was it just annoying, it was also a great possibility that they were not alone in the area. Before, the wailing cries could continue, the conversation took a drastic turn. A giant grin quickly spread over her face, replacing any sort of annoyance toward the young child, at the number of insults the pinkette was flinging at Ichigo to convince him to let them go with them. Her favorite had to be 'limp dick'. It was completely original and she'd probably add it to her repertoire at some point. She could already imagine Ikkaku's reaction to it, if Ichigo's flustered anger was anything to go by.

"Don't look so happy at this Natsu." Renji called out to her.

Natsu lifted her shoulder lazily in a shrug and then gave him a smirk. Renji hadn't caught on either to what she was thinking about. Perhaps, he hadn't even paid attention to the fight at all. It would probably mean she could spring out the insult and get his overreaction as well at some point. "Don't know wha'cha talkin' 'bout Ren."

Now that the three arrancar were following after them, the now group of nine continued through the hole that had been blasted all the way through by Idiot 1 and Idiot 2. Both of whom had taken the lead of the group in an amorphous sort of way, as people moved together with no one really straggling behind. Natsu jumped slightly over the large rock that protruded from the side, and heard a small grunt, and then foot fall, as Chad was lifting himself over it with a one handed fling. The blast had sent tons of rubble into the inside of the corridor, and they were probably lucky that the wall was so high and wide. They had been sparred from suffering from a collapse since the width of the walls appeared to remain completely sturdy.

"This is a thick wall… How long does it go on?" Ichigo grumbled from somewhere on the right. It was so dark that they couldn't even make out each other's form except for the shudders of air and the flaps of clothing by one another. "It's so dark I can't even see anything, either."

Renji piped up from the front since he had once again taken the lead. "No choice then… Leave it to me."

A hand suddenly clasped onto her wrist and Natsu felt herself flung forward before she could ask what was wrong or who it was. The sound of everyone's footsteps came to a halt, as Natsu made out the spluttering that was coming from underneath her from a very, recognizable Renji. They both had toppled to the ground from the addition of extra body weight on top of him and from her being suddenly flung. Before Natsu could even begin to formulate words, she was roughly shoved off onto the ground as Renji got up and demanded who had done that. Natsu remained on the ground as Rukia began to huff out her explanation for getting Renji to not follow through with his dumb idea.

"Leave it to Natsu… She's better at kido. You don't have to act cool, fool," Rukia declared and Natsu could imagine that the noble was pointing her finger into the direction she thought was where Natsu was lying.

Natsu grunted as she got up from the ground and let out a heavy sigh which seemed to exhale from her entire body. She patted down at all her clothing, taking in the odd dampness that had sunk onto her from the fall, and shifting around to make sure that she hadn't lost anything. The medical bag was still in its sleeve and the communicator was up by her ear. She had heard no words coming through the device which meant that the fighting hadn't even started yet in Karakura Town, so she'd have to presume that Aizen was still in the base somewhere. The more she thought about that, the more this thought set her a bit on edge, because, as she looked toward the endlessly black hallway, it meant someone was waiting for them; someone with two, keen eyes was already thinking five steps ahead of them.

"Put a sock in it," Renji grumbled out in a mewling spit at the accusations that Rukia was tossing over at him. "Fine… Natsu you're up."

Natsu let out a grumble about the incompetency of leaders and not needing to have thrown her in the first place. As she was tossing out her curses beneath her breath, she heard the group shifting around behind her to accommodate the new diagram that they would be moving in. She picked up her hand and kept it face down. However, she turned around so that she presumed she was facing the group, as she collected a minimal amount of reiatsu into her palm. "Hadou 4: Byakurai."

Immediately the light shown through the dark and she easily made out all the faces of the other eight, as they looked around from one another to the space that they occupied. Finally, almost at the exact same moment, they all landed to stare at the glowing hand which every once and a while had a small tendril of electricity going over it. The small electrical current put off enough omission that they could also make out all the walls around them even if the light was mainly coming from her fingers.

Uryu was the first to get in close to the light and he examined the demon arts with his small twitch of pushing his glasses up his nose. Ichigo gave an impressed nod with Chad the ever present observer over his shoulder watching with quiet composure. Renji let out a grumble and crossed his arms with his head tossed over to the side, while Rukia gave an enthusiastic grin that almost resembled pride in her own actions. The hollows stood awkwardly to the back, eyeing the kido that they had come to know as an enemy's attack, though Nel appeared the most enraptured, as she booked her head from her own empty palm to Natsu's glowing fingertips.

"I was right," Rukia suddenly proclaimed strongly which, upon investigation, Natsu noticed only deepened the blush along Renji's face. "Let's keep moving then."

Natsu immediately swiveled around, giving up any hope of making fun of Renji in this moment since everyone was too eager to keep moving, and then took off at a slightly faster jog so that she could act as leader of the company. She made out the splutter of steps that began to follow after her as she let out a sigh. Since she was running at the front it meant that she couldn't take it easy as it curled her instincts into a more fighting mindset; after all, she would be the first to notice anything coming their way. It was just never how she liked to get anywhere at all. Her best days were when everything was set to her own pace and to her own momentum; something which she had lived by at the academy, her days in the Kido Corps, and her transfer into the Gotei 13.

"Kido's pretty advantageous then," Ichigo commented.

Natsu tossed her head slightly over her shoulder and gave a nod. "Yeah… Dependin' on 'ow much reiatsu ya put through it can really act like anythin'."

They petered into a cavernous space, staying close to the hole that they created to get in, and stuck close together so that they could all be afforded some shelter in the light. It remained completely dark until all of sudden flames began to erupt from torches placed around the room. Natsu puffed out some air as she immediately stopped the demon arts that she was using. Her eyes took in the circular room that was now fully illuminated to them as the slow leak of her thought, that they were really being observed by Aizen, couldn't remained trapped in the back of her head any longer. She could feel those brown eyes upon her from every space in the room as the torches flickered with the wind.

The room was pure white, minus the black torches that had the spluttering flames coming from them. There were six doorways that went off into different directions. None of the six hallways had anything to differentiate themselves from one another. They were all just pockets of dark space in a white room the more she looked down them all. There were small trickles of reiatsu leaking through but there was no way to really tell the power of any of the enemies up ahead since they could all be hiding their presence somewhat.

As she tapped back into the conversation, she realized that Rukia was going to have them all split up. Logistically it made sense to cover the most ground at the quickest rate. It could even be argued that it was logical to split up to cover the most area in the quickest amount of time, so that they could leave Hueco Mundo even faster. However, it was a huge risk to take with the opponents having the advantage over both knowing the location better and most likely being more powerful in most circumstances. There probably was no other way to do it, though. Natsu nodded slightly in acquiescence to the suggestion getting a growl followed by a roar from the lion in her that was already leaping about at the idea of having a kill for itself.

"What are you saying? Our opponents are espada," Ichigo cried out just short of collecting the girl by her shihakusho. "It's obviously better for us to all go together… They might not come at use one at a time. If we're spread ou-"

"Knock it off." Renji stood in front of Rukia, throwing off Ichigo's attitude as he did so. It acted as a full body submission to the noble's idea and the arm across, to show his absolute will to protect the girl and the idea that she proposed, worked effectively to counter anything another could say. "Showing concern for a warrior's life on the battlefield is an insult to that warrior."

"It sounds like you're saying that because you're worried about me. But that's not like you at all, Ichigo… I told you not to worry about me. I didn't come here so that I could be protected by you!" Rukia put forth and the sledgehammer seemed to knock Ichigo straight from his high horse.

He let out a long sigh and scratched at the back of his head. "We'll… Each take a different path then."

Natsu smirked slightly, having already agreed with what Rukia was suggesting, and wiggled her eyebrows as Ichigo looked over at her. He huffed slightly but before the human could say another he was cut off by Renji, who was getting every one to circle up for a chant. They all seemed to blanch in their own ways at the idea and looked ashamedly away at just the prospect. Some even curled in on themselves to get away from Renji's pig-headedness, with Uryu seeming to be the only one to argue with words about the ritual's redundant meaning. Natsu let out a loud sigh which collected the attention back over to herself, as she slowly made her way over to the red head that had stopped his description of what it was exactly supposed to happen.

"I'mma gonna put seals on each of ya," Natsu exclaimed and put her palm face up as she beckoned them all closer. "It'll kick in if ya get too serious injuries… Then ya can do ya chant Ren."

"Wait… Won't you get wo—"

"Boke…. I've been practicin' fo' this." Natus jeered slightly as she poked Ichigo's side to which he grumbled at the sudden pinch in his abdomen. "Nothin' like wha' 'appened on tha hill will 'appen this time 'round. Jus' don't go dyin' 'cause even I can't bring ya back from tha'."

They each held their hands out palm up and Natsu went around in a small circle as she placed down her seal one by one on their hands. They observed the process slowly which was silly since seals never left a visible mark on the skin. There were only three cases in which a seal actually remained visible and those were if the seal was done improperly, done under duress, or was too complex that the recipient couldn't handle all the power impressed on them. The latter was the scenario for Yuko's case, since it was done both under duress of the situation, but also because her body became several weakened in the sekkisekki jail cell that she was kept in, leaving the seal visible as the years went by.

The one on her wrist was a tattoo that she had placed there, but it was no more than ink to imply where she had sealed off her zanpakuto if people thought that hard. Not that she met anyone who ever cared about it. Had she wanted it to be another way then it could have gotten another symbol or anything other object or even gotten it somewhere else on her body. She had just liked the idea of having it sealed up in a location which was notified by something which represented her zanpakuto so well, and keeping it in her wrist meant that she was keeping Sekhmet close when she wanted it to be there. She had once murmured that it was artistic expression, although Izuru had more than a few snide comments to make about that.

"So this will create that red wall around us?" Uryu questioned as he peered at his hand and flipped it around a number of times to see what happened. "I don't see anything."

"Seals ain't fo' seein'." Natsu inputted and smirked over at the quincy who grumbled slightly. "But yeah… Jus' like I said. If ya get too wounded this'll kick in an' 'eal up ya injuries. It'll be very slow so ya migh' 'ave ta slow down. An' if ya get anythin' too serious ya out of luck."

They all nodded very slowly and then steeled up their resolve again as each other hunkered down and placed their hands together in a tiny tangle of hands both too large, too wide, too slim, and too short. Natsu let out a despairing sigh under her breath and then shifted around as she found her gaze stuck to the stock pile that they had created. It was a good last memory to have before they all headed for the various war fronts that they would no doubt encounter. They were on Aizen's territory after all. She had once gripped tightly to just one hand at a time in her youth, but now she had a smaller connection with five others. That warmth from all of them would be just enough until they saw each other again.

Renji took up the chant easily. "We, at this moment head into the decisive battle. Have faith that our blades will not shatter. Have faith that our hearts will not waver. And even if our paths should diverge, we all share our heart of iron…. Swear that even in the ground beneath us should be rent asunder. We will live… And return to this place again."

The hands collapsed quickly towards the ground and they all immediately rushed off towards their own hallway. Any loitering probably would have made them all sick at the thoughts of upcoming battles or too worried about one another to move forward. Natsu let out a small, deprecating chuckle. Her fists clenched up for a small moment and then she flexed, pulling at her fingers, as she kept her eyes wide open to the space around her.

The chant certainly had sent a small tingle of blood up through her veins and she could still feel the push from it which was what such a chant had been invented for in the first place. While the words had definitely steeled her nerves for the upcoming battles and the tense situations she would face ahead of her, there was still a small twang of bitter-sweetness in it. Battles were just like that; never knowing if you would truly get back to the starting point that you had set out from. Or, at least, get back physically to work another day to come back emotionally and mentally.

It was somewhat similar to that long wait at the door waiting for it to open up again and invite the man back inside. It was only similar in that desperate amount of hope that clung to the image of the doorknob and the fastening of her eyes on the space ahead of her waiting to hear that creak of the hinges. When the door never opened again, it was that shatter which lead to broken glass, much like the cracking of fantasy and the rush of reality that death was just on the outside. That no one was protected from it. The sun had to set at some point but it usually came back around to start the day again. Instead, one day it just blew up.

* * *

 **A/N: Yes. What do I say now? - It has begun. Dun, dun, dun...? - So stoked!**

 **Comment/review/question/say 'hi'. Let me know what you're thinking.**

 **I appreciate all of you just sticking around and continuing to read this story but I really do love hearing from you all as well! Thank you!**


	35. Chapter 34

Natsu felt that she had been running for much longer than a day by the time that she decided to collect her inner thoughts about the situation. Before she was just focused on the area, on seeing if there was another presence, if an enemy would come out of nowhere. As time had moved on, in this forever, white path, her attention must have slipped without her even knowing because the sense of urgency and tension she had at the beginning seemed to have diminished by now. Her once determined run had slipped to something of a useless jog as she was thinking about the situation at hand. Now that she had given herself a sharper reminder, unfortunately also condemning her to the growls of the lion in her, she took the chance to consider the place that she had been stuck in. How long had she been here?

It really was an endless line of going through a black tunnel, except without seeing the light at the end of it. There were no flames that came up along the walls either to give her any sort of light. Obviously, Aizen had not put a lot of attention in the construction of this particular area of his palace. She had lit up her hand again with her kido to see that she was, at the very least, not backtracking. All she could see around her, though, was a long corridor of pure white. The only marker that seemed to differentiate one slab of white from another slab of white was an off-gray seam that kept the pieces together to create this entire wall. How was she supposed to tell if she was moving forward when there was nothing to give her even a sense of direction? She only felt she was moving forward because she knew she hadn't turned around at some point and gone back the other way. However, visually, there was no way of knowing if she hadn't become lost or if, for some reason, she had gone backwards. Her teeth only gritted when she felt the small flickers of her compatriots reiatsus already spiking a bit as they engaged in their battles, but otherwise she continued along in the only direction she thought to go.

 _Will you at least release me in advance, Natsu?_

 _… Shuddup, ya annoyin'_

 _Consider it being prepared should the enemy sneak up on you, brat._

Natsu let out a huffy response to the growling the lion was doing and slowed her run down, again, so that she could draw out her zanpakuto from the seal on her wrist. Her words took up the space as if she was in the confines of a dark corner that seeped out any other noise. Her eyes narrowed slightly at that feeling of the words being drawn away from her and sucked into the walls before she could even tell if they left her mouth. In fact, when was it that she had heard anything in the past lifetime that she had been in the space? She couldn't recall if her footsteps had even made a noise as they kept beating against the ground in her run. As she felt the katana and the tanto in both of her hands, she slide the two of them into the sheaths on her back and picked up her pace to where it had once been.

 _Good instincts brat._

 _…. Wha'cha talkin' 'bout._

 _Something's weird about the space we're in._

Natsu halted altogether at the lion growling in her head. She could feel the way her head shifted over to a tilt in a small consideration to this annoyingly worded sensation. Even her own gut was pulsing at her to change up what she was doing. On off occasions, the lion actually made a lot of sense and after years of trying and failing to ignore how the lion was often connected to her gut feelings about situations, Natsu learnt to listen to it. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she held up her left hand out in front of her face. She could make out the electricity that was running through her palm, her fingers, and the energy that the kido seemed to create. Even as she held that electricity to her face, she couldn't make out anything but that small tingle of feeling in her fingers. No sound of the sparks of electricity that were moving along her ligaments. And she only knew her hand was lit because of the way her eyes squirmed at looking too directly at it. This energy, the sounds, the endless corridor all seemed so starkly different from how everything around her should feel. She should have air, and sound, and difference.

She stuck out her hand in the direction she was moving in and loaded up more power to shoot it off. As the light grew stronger and stronger she finally released it up ahead of her. The entire corridor lit up for just a brief moment as the electricity took over the space and then she saw the shot slipping away into the darkness as it traveled too fast for her to keep up with. Not moments later, she forced herself up against the wall as she felt a pressure coming up from her back suddenly. The wall shot small needles of cold up along her back as she pressed closer to it, heightening her sense of awareness about the situation she was in as she grew more awake. She watched as her own kido came back and passing in front of her again. She let out a small puff of air and as it came back around for the second time she used hanki to cancel out the demon art until it fizzled up into a small trail of smoke.

 _Aizen's got 'is tricks then… An' endless loop._

 _We going up? Or to the sides?_

 _So muc' fo' not takin' time ta develop tha area... 'E musta put lo's of thought inta this part._

 _We going up? ... Or to the sides? Brat!_

Natsu tapped slightly on the wall but she heard none of the knocks that should have echoed out. It took her a moment to register that she, indeed, hadn't actually heard anything. Now that she could focus on it, she knew that her own brain filled in the information of what it should have sounded like even if the noise hadn't actually been made. She tapped on the wall again to make sure that she wasn't just imagining the sensation of how hollow the wall should have sounded. The skin around her eyes tightened, and she could tell that as her vision grew smaller, her eyes had slanted into a frown. She really had become completely deaf in the looped circle she had been running in. Her brain had been the only thing that had been filling in all the sounds from the way her feet had fallen to the breaths that she had taken, and, now, to how the knocks on the wall should have sounded.

There must have been some sort of illusion placed on the hallway. Aizen must have known how brains can often fill in the gaps of information almost automatically even if it was what was in those gaps that was often that part that was incorrect. How Aizen could do this at the very beginning when she was at her most tense was interesting. In theory, that should have been the time she noticed those differences to begin with. Yet, she hadn't been asking those questions as she stepped further and further into enemy territory. She really should have been questioning such things. Maybe that was just because she was too naive into thinking he wouldn't do something directly at the beginning? It was Aizen, he wouldn't do direct attacks. Natsu blew some air out of her nose to focus her mind a little bit more and to calm down the sensation of her neurons tripping over one another as they ran too fast. She certainly had a lot more things to learn but right now was not the time to be worried about how she was too lackadaisical about the situation. Right now, was not the time to get into a huff about her experience or lack there of.

 _Righ' now-_

 _You're a crappy fighter but that's why you have me._

 _Shudup!..._ _Whatta bitch._

 _Whatever... Let's get moving._

Natsu rolled her eyes at the lion that was letting out more growls about the lack of motion. The lion was all about the urgency that it was feeling to get its blood for the day, and not about problem solving the situation that they had found themselves in. If only she had the woman version of Sekhmet to actually plan accordingly than she would be much better off right now. Actually, Natsu pondered, it was probably because Sekhmet was a lion right now that those observation she should have made, weren't made at all.

 _Don't blame me for your incompetency, brat._

 _Oh~ Incompetency. Tha's a big word._

 _Listen ya damn thing, lion's have great senses. Just because you don't know how to tap into them is your fault. You haven't trained!_

 _Sheesh... ya righ' I don' wanna know._

 _Then-_

Natsu shut down the voice in her head as she turned back to the situation to figure out the best way out of it. She couldn't back track because somehow she had ended up in a loop so she'd only end up back where she was right at this moment. When the door had disappeared she doubted she'd ever find out, but it wouldn't even help to find it at this point. It would just be a waste of time and energy; both of which she really couldn't afford to expend any more of. Now if she burst through the walls either left or right she could either end up back outside of Las Noches or she could end up in another place or nowhere at all inside of Las Noches. If she went up through the ceiling then she probably had the same probability of ending up somewhere completely new or nowhere.

Going down, she pondered, probably wouldn't be good at all. After all, the group had entered on ground level, and she hadn't felt herself moving up a hill or something at any point in time. It could have been another illusion but she had to start getting rid of options. She let out a strong huff before she sent her arm up straight above her. Heading up somehow seemed like the most likely of getting out of the situation, for some reason. Most likely because it was always the last thing that was expected. Humans very rarely had the tendency to look up during situations. But, more logically, every building had a roof, so she was bound to get out of this situation if she went up.

As Natsu felt her own mouth moving, she was thankful that somewhere in the back of her head she could implant how her voice sounded. "Hadou 31: Shakkaho."

The red beam shot out from her hand and burst through the roof of the circular passage way she had been in. The deafness still retained itself as she could only make out the sight of the new passageway that had been formed. There was no sound of the boom as the kido met the wall or the sounds of crumbling walls or rocks falling down and clattering close to her. Even the smoke seemed to lack its usual intensity as it seemed to purely become a visual effect, instead of that odd claustrophobic feeling that it usually created. She flung herself up immediately even as the smoke was still evaporating with her eyes narrowing down to prevent them from watering.

As she grew closer to the top, she gave a final push on some reishi to climb through. She scattered away from the hole and over towards the right as quickly as possible as soon as she was on the on the other side. Her right hand swooped to her back as she placed herself on guard with her knees coming just up from the ground and her left hand falling to touch the ground as she shifted her weight about. The balls of her feet were tense as she rolled onto them so that she could pounce if necessary. Her hand tightened down on her hilt as she began to rove over the entirety of the room that she had gotten into, which appeared to have a lack of people in it. There was nothing that called her immediate attention as the smoke and dust finally began to settle from her explosion.

Her feet shifted and then her legs, as she re-balanced so that she could come up straight and her eyes looked down at it to make sure that she really had moved. She still couldn't make out any of sounds and even though she was certain of knowing how to control her body she needed to make sure. There was still no footfall, and therefore watching as her feet paced became essential to understanding that she was actually moving. Her eyes narrowed slightly since it appeared that deafness was not just an illusion placed on the hallway. It appeared that it might actually have to do with the section of the building she was in. She could be in a noise cancelling part of the building but the more she thought about it, there was really no need for that to actually exist. Deafness became an impediment to those that were actually able to hear, as the learning curve was something that was not easily surmountable; particularly when it happened suddenly or happened too quickly for the brain to register.

 _Probably got somethin' ta do wit' tha enemy, then._

 _Assassin?_

 _... Coul' be._

Deafness was probably the first worst thing for a warrior to have, Natsu presumed, second to not feeling pain. Feeling pain was essential only in circumstances of injury to make sure that it was registered that the person was bleeding or if their body was struggling in some manner. Potentially, most people with that affliction probably already knew this and became more cautious with their bodies. Deafness, in Natsu's thoughts, seemed to be more integral to being able to work around a space and to understand it. She'd actual prefer to be blind to losing any other sense if anyone had bothered to ask her about her opinion on the matter. If she had all other senses - touch, reiatsu sensing, smell, and hearing - she'd be able to construct the area even within the limitation of her blindness about the visuals.

Additionally sometimes eyes could play tricks on the holder. Aizen was the most obvious example with his complete hypnosis making the opponent see what he crafted for them. But even a person's own brain could play tricks on them. Deserts were a typical example since when deprived of water the person could end up hallucinating and implanting an image which the other senses would know were not actually true at all. There are occasions of that happening in every day life. In that way, eyes could be more deceiving than any other sense that a person had to use. Hearing, therefore, seemed to hold a lot of useful information about the patterns of the environment around her and Natsu couldn't imagine a situation in which she would have to figure out how to work around it.

 _Tha hassle of learnin' 'ow ta do tha... Ugh_

 _Why are you thinking about such useless things?_

 _Woul' ya actually shudup?_

Her eyes took in what appeared to be a group bathing room. Having the same white color as everywhere else it didn't stand out from what little else she had seen in that aspect. Instead of being made of stones, however, it had white tiles all along it. There was a gloss along the floor, perhaps a recent polish, and she could see her figure standing like a black mass in the reflected image of them. Her eyes then snapped over to the two large baths that were there. They were square in shape and seemed to have constantly flowing water. Though she wasn't able to hear the sound of the running water, or the clatter as the water dropped into its basin, she was able to make out the faucets and the level of water in the tubs; a level which never seemed to rise.

Her eyes trailed over to see if she could find anything else that was remarkable about the sight before her but there was nothing. Whatever passage way she had ended up in appeared to be the inner lining of the walls for the bathing room since the rooms appeared to share that same circular shape. She would have assumed it was where the pipes for the water were but there was no leaking or rush of water which meant it was probably just a trap. She took a glance behind her to see that she was on some sort of ledge just above the room, with windows that faced outwards. Taking a cautious half step toward the glass, after she had finished examining the hole she had come out of, she was able to take in the large dunes of sand inside Las Noches. The only difference from the inside and the outside of the palace had to be the sky. The sky which inside was bright with blue skies and had a sun that was shining down were conviction to everyone in the palace. But Natsu highly doubted it created the same effect.

She teetered back slightly, turning half way around, and felt the hairs on her skin stand upright at the image before her. If the closing door was anything to go by, the arrancar that Natsu was staring at now, had only just entered the room. It was the absence of sound that startled Natsu's brain into overdrive as she tried to make up for the lost few seconds of attention that she had given to her surroundings. Even as she knew the arrancar wasn't going to attack her just yet, the whisper of doubt overshadowed by the calm aura the arrancar gave off, Natsu found her hand wandering towards the hilt of her sword a millimeter per second. Yet, she kept her mask as firmly placed along her features as ever, with only a tilt of her head to give off the sign that she was now addressing her opponent.

This time before her, was a female arrancar who had long red hair going down to the hips in gentle waves. There was a solemn look on the woman's face which was bare of any sort of mask that was commonplace for arrancar. Natsu traced over the sunken black eyes that looked like two holes in the arrancar's face, and the tragedy that was lined in the frown that marred the skin of the face of the arrancar female in front of her. This arrancar was wearing something that looked like a halter dress though its material looked like a bed sheet with its pristine whiteness and the image of appearing non-hemmed or cut for her body in any way. It was flattering in its own way, though; showing off the well endowed form of the arrancar and cutting off to show the shapely legs that she had from the mid-thigh down. Along her shoulders was the proof of her hollowness that Natsu had been looking for. There were the remnants of her bony mask which extended all along her collar bone. It appeared to be like teeth, with the jagged points extending down along her skin. She also had a hollow hole directly through her throat.

Natsu turned the rest of the way around to face the woman as the black eyes blinked at her. Not moments later, a few tears started to fall down from the black pools that were watching her. Natsu felt her grip on her hilt tighten, no doubt leaving her knuckles white in anticipation from the sudden change of emotion, and she slide out her zanpakuto completely; a movement which helped her maneuver the sword in front of her just in time to stop the kick that flew at her. Her second hand landed on the hilt as she went through all of the blocks and dodges to get out of each kick and punch that was sent her way.

She flipped off the ledge, still facing this arrancar, and as soon as she was on the ground she pushed backwards. She inched and inched until she was still on defensive somewhere between where the two baths were in the room. Her teeth gritted down at the force that the arrancar was using and the exponential sadness that seemed to just seep out of the enemy. Tears were running faster and faster until Natsu had to assume that the arrancar's vision had gotten blurred. Using it to her advantage, Natsu got in a long slide at the woman's waist as she ducked under a punch and rushed forward to the other side. When Natsu turned around from her glide through, the arrancar was looking down at the cut that now marked her once white skin with red. When the arrancar had fully turned around, so that they were facing one another once again, Natsu hefted up her zanpakuto to be ready for another onslaught.

 _I's weird…. She coulda used shunpo an' this figh' would be 'arda._

 _Why is she crying, brat?_

 _Don't ask me tha'? How'm I suppos' ta know?_

The arrancar only stood still as they were considering one another. Natsu felt her smirk slipping back onto her features as she watched that continuous trail of tears along her enemy's face. It was absolutely certain that the arrancar had to have been joking with her in those last rallies of movement. In this deafened area, the use of shunpo would have made her almost untraceable if Natsu wasn't able to keep up; a high probability given the amount of time it took for eyes to translate what they saw and process it through the brain. Yet the arrancar had only gone for slower swipes and had even taken it a bit easy on the strength so that Natsu could keep up with them all.

Natsu took her left hand off the hilt of her sword and beckoned the enemy forward again. The arrancar paused slightly, a jerk moving from the hesitant step she made forward, with her eyes narrowing at the gesture. It seemed that whatever the arrancar had been thinking quickly passed over though, as there was the tiniest of twitches along the arrancar's eyes; usually a physical reaction to being fed up at the situation. Natsu had seen that far too many times to be able to ignore it when she saw it replicated on someone else. Thank kami-sama for Izuru's irritable personality as an underling. The frown on the arrancar's face grew, with a small baring of her teeth as they clenched together, and then fell back into a harsh bridge over her face.

Natsu sunk back into position after she watched the emotional response from the quick taunt that she had thrown give way to something just a bit more deadly. Her body jolted, and she could feel the tension sweep along her shoulders, as she watched the arrancar pull out a sword which had been strapped against the middle of its stomach under its dress. Her eyes sharpened along the arrancar's face as the sunken holes were no longer connected with her own auburn freckled eyes. The blade glinted for just a second before Natsu's attention was piercing the arrancar's lips that were moving. Then there was an increase in reiatsu in the area.

Now before her stood something very similar to the woman except that there were wings that had grown out of her back. The arrancar had taken to floating slightly just above the ground, as the bottom end of the wings were created to make something of butterfly with her body; maybe, it looked a bit more like a moth. A gentle wind started to gush towards Natsu and shallow cuts formed along her skin which had her jerking backwards before she quickly remedied and maintained her stance.

 _Wind huh? - Tha's tough._

The arrancar's mouth opened up. Except, unlike in normal situations, the mouth never seemed to end. It kept opening and opening as the jaws almost unhinged. A loud shriek echoed out and Natsu ground through her teeth at the sudden explosion of noise. It was high pitched in frequency and shrill like a murder had just happened. Not murder of just anyone, but murder of the arrancar that stood before her. It was a last message from a dying woman as she exacted the only pain she could inflict on the people against her. Natsu could feel the blood tripping over her ears and running down her jaw before it dripped off somewhere into the space before splattering on the floor.

 _Now I'mma really deaf…. Sucks._

The arrancar came flying at her once its mouth had closed up again and Natsu found it impossible to move. Her eyes narrowed as she took the direct hit to the sternum from a punch and then let herself fall limp down to the ground whilst half hanging onto the wall behind her. Another hit came after and then another, until she felt the wall truly digging into her back. As another kick came, she was bent over to reach her own thighs as she had been shoved into the hole that her own body had dug out for itself.

 _Fuck._

Natsu groaned and coughed out blood that dropped down onto her thighs when the onslaught finally stopped. The hits had probably cracked a few of her ribs, but, more importantly, the wail just before had paralyzed her completely. The speed at which the arrancar had moved would have been hard to keep up with to begin with, but she hadn't even been able to move anything to bring her guard up. Her brain had told her to do so, but her body had been completely severed from her brain at that moment.

 _So i's really tha wail I gotta watch fo'…. Wha' a fuckin' 'orrible power._

 _It was an annoying sound._

 _…. Tha's a stupid comment. Don't ya got somethin' ta 'elp me shut 'er up._

 _That's your problem._

Natsu huffed at the lion which was battle stupid like Ikkaku and had none of the intellectual sense that the woman healer of her zanpakuto spirit did. Her eyes peaked up to see that the arrancar had wandered off slightly. It was, however, still in its released state as it was hovering just over the ground as it made small figure eights along the space. Natsu couldn't tell if the arrancar was expecting her to get back up or if it was simply cautious. Or, perhaps, too emotional to go back to a sealed form at the moment. The mournful blue-black wings flapped slightly to keep the body hovering and seemed to have blinking eyes on them, although Natsu knew them just to be patterns after looking at them for a bit longer.

With a little bit of squirming, Natsu crept forward and slunk down onto the ground just under the hole as silently as possible. Old habits were dying hard as she belatedly realized that there was no sound in the area, though she wasn't sure if the arrancar was actually deaf. Maybe she just had the ability to create a vacuum of sound as a way to amplify that shriek of hers. Natsu planted her fingers just ahead of her and whispered out, "bakudou 44: sekisho", and a wall appeared in front of her body. Her fingers then trailed over her ears, taking note of the blood and then the communicator which had somehow stayed in tact through the high resonant sound. Cupping the two of them with one hand each she used a small "bakudou 39: enkosen" to condense her reiatsu over the ears to cover them up as a way to prevent the wails. Hopefully, if the arrancar wailed again, it would mean that the bakudou was destroyed, thereby canceling out the effects of the shriek.

Her zanpakuto had slipped from her grasp just as she was about to be flung into the wall for the last time, but at least it was in reaching distance. She gathered it up in her right hand as she placed her left right onto the kido wall that she had crafted. When her hand was placed firmly enough and her body was ready to spring her lips trailed out the words of, "hadou 58: tenran."

The wall she had erected crashed down and she saw the tornado-like blast sweeping right into the arrancar who had gotten curious and, as such, had gotten a bit closer to her during the wait. Its mouth opened to let out a wail but before it could release any noise, the arrancar got sucked into the movements of the twister. Natsu made out the small tears at the wings of the arrancar as it was flung around in circles and then was slammed up towards the roof. Its body then crashed down onto the ground.

 _I's kinda disappointin' when I don't got no sound._

There was no way to tell if the bakudou by her ears would work, but Natsu got up from her kneel and dragged her sword up until she was guarding her body again. The arrancar came up with a stumble; staggering over its own feet. Natsu watched as it built up air in its chest, an action that caused Natsu to tense and bring her sword up just a bit more readily, before hearing that shriek echo through the room. There was a pulsation by her ears but the bakudo held up giving Natsu a great, big grin along her face as she rushed forward. Her sword swung out as she edged another slice at the one she had adorned the arrancar with previously. The arrancar tripped backwards at the new hit and Natsu followed through quickly by sending another slash down the woman's chest.

The red-haired woman dropped down easily at the third hit with its mouth wide open. The black eyes slowly trailed off to the side, while Natsu looked at the small trickle of steam that rose from her own zanpakuto at the taste of the enemy's blood. She released the bakudo on her ears and then dragged her tanto out to raise the heat up to her ears. She quickly made her way over to the door and waited by it as she gathered up her breathe and calmed down her heart. Natsu shifted between the healing and testing how the ear felt with her fingers until she could only feel dried blood.

 _Ya think i's 'ealed?_

 _You might be able to tell if you leave the room._

 _…. Tha's not a bad idea._

Natsu stowed the tanto away and then twisted the handle down. She tossed a look over her shoulder but could only see the corpse of the dead arrancar before she was pulling the door towards her. As quietly as possible, Natsu slid one foot out and then drifted her entire body through the crack that she had made. When she drew through the rest of her body, she had was never more relieved than to hear the small groan of the door, the heavy thump of it hitting in its frame, and the slink of the door's lock shutting in place.


	36. Chapter 35

Natsu let out a small shudder as she thought back to the anguishing wail that had been the only thing that she had heard the entire time since entering Aizen's palace. The shriek rattled in the very front of her ears but the piercing high note that was in the background seemed to make an immersive noise somewhere in the back of her head. She couldn't shake it no matter how hard she tried, or how much she tried to train her focus on something else. Her ears had made a full, physical recovery when the human form of Sekhmet had finally been able to claim a small moment from the angsty, lion. Inner brain damage, which Sekhmet a ruled out, was still on her running list of complaints about this entire ribs which she had proposed were cracked initially, were only bruised, along with the membrane of her lungs, so a conscience decision was made to forgo wasting the healing energy on them just yet. That, however, did not mean that Ichigo would get an earful when she was done with this escapade.

She had been wandering along this new hallway for some time now, as she flickered her eyes up to the area around her. It was much the same as the other ones she had been in maybe only a few moments before and the moments before that; in the long hours she had spent wandering since she left the bathing rooms, actually. She couldn't remember when she had actually left the bathing room for this long, endless stream of monotonous hallways. The only difference had to be that these hallways were finally getting much higher ceilings and looked like she had actually made it inside the official buildings that were Las Noches. There were large windows that came up along one side of the walls, and had the sun coming through so strongly that even the corners had their own amount of light. There was not a single space that didn't have some sort of light in the space. Ironic for a world that was actually cast in the darkness of the moonlight.

Even as she kept her face up front, Natsu couldn't help the knee-jerk reaction of her head as she felt the sudden crash of Chad's reiatsu. From what she could sense it was coming from what appeared to be the complete opposite side of campus and too far away for her to get to even as her pace began to speed up a little bit more along the hallway. In her small jog, her eyes narrowed slightly and she felt the tingle in her own reiatsu as the seal activated. The tense pulse going through her body dulled slightly. He wasn't on death's door, if the seal had been activated.

That being said there were two obstacles she now faced as she couldn't tell if the seal would be enough to stabilize him. In order to improve the technique, Natsu had to put an internal limiter on the seal so that her own personal reiatsu wouldn't be drained too much. The second limitation to the seal, was that she had several active seals that were linked directly to her reiatsu which meant that she had to be careful with the disbursement of reiatsu through each different seal. After another quick scan, Natsu could tell that none of the others had gotten injured enough to use it yet. With that deduction done, Natsu pushed just a bit more reiatsu to his seal to hopefully counter whatever type of injury that occurred to his body. It was obviously bad enough that his reiatsu had dropped significantly from it. If she stretched just a bit more she thought she might have felt something much stronger by him, but it was too shaky to know what type of opponent he was up against.

"You beat Tumula, I see."

Natsu jerked around at the sudden voice, hand flying to the sword that was on her hip as she steadied her stance. Her eyes flickered from the body which was slowly departing from its position by the wall; a hidden door closing behind the thin arrancar. Sekhmet let out a small hiss at her negligence for paying attention to the environment around them. Who knows how many hidden doors she had walked by without any knowledge at this point. Hidden rooms were often the most important ones to check out. After all, why go through the trouble of hiding something that you wanted others to find? However, they usually ended up being the most dangerous as they were the most heavily guarded. The thought of doing it anyway, had the corner of her lip curving as she received another warning from her zanpakuto.

Her eyes fell towards the androgenous being that was in front of her. The voice had been a smooth sound; neither deep nor high. It also had no inflections or pronunciations that would give away the gender. The arrancar was also thin enough to appear female but there was no shape to the figure which might make it a stick like male. In fact the entire body was covered up in another large tarp like cloth; something of a common fabric in Hueco Mundo if Nel and her posse were to go by. Even the arrancar's face was completely concealed as it was shadowed by a large hood that flopped all the way down and covered up the head from the top to the chin. She could only make out a small sliver of the neck which had an old scar along it.

Again her knee jerk reaction had her flipping her head away from the arrancar. It definitely wasn't another injury, much to her relief since Natsu had to focus on Chad's ailments, but someone was compromised. With a small bit of tinkering - the seals were becoming very helpful at keeping her connected to the other members - Natsu realized it was a Rukia. From the blast of Rukia's reiatsu, which was flaring in angry protest to the noble's own opponent, someone or something had made her angry. Whatever the small shinigami was facing had to have done something very bad for the noble to be that upset that it could be felt through her reiatsu and be almost insidious as it tried to strangle Natsu's more calm tempered flow.

The voice called her back a few moments later as Natsu compartmentalized the feelings of reiatsu around her. "Taking your eyes from the opponent is not a good idea."

"I'mma 'ware," Natsu stated as she moved only her eyes to look at the arrancar from her periphery. There was no need to appear surprised by such an unoriginal comment as she slowly let her head drag across the air at a much slower rate. "Yet ya didn't 'ttack me… Takin' pity maybe?"

"Oh I am not so kind as to do that." The arrancar hefted its arms up so that Natsu could see the long fabric that adorned them. The fabric still stretched all the way down to the floor, tipping over the splayed out finger tips which were parallel to the ground, as the arrancar gave a simple shrug. "But I suppose it might seem that way."

"Che… So serious." Natsu turned her head fully to the arrancar as she tried to confirm what the ploy was, since her opponent seemed to be very relaxed about the proceedings leading up to a fight. Perhaps there was something going on with those really long sleeves that it was wearing. She had never heard of fabric as a weapon but there were probably weirder abilities than that. "Ya a pretty bland guy."

The arrancar only shrugged again with the tiniest slump of its shoulders going up and down, though Natsu focused on the sleeves to see if they would move independently from the arrancar's movements. "I'll repeat my former question because it appears you didn't hear me… You are the one that beat Tumula, correct?"

"Tha' was a question?" Natsu smirked slightly as twisted her head to the side. Oddly, there was some comfort in the way her hair seemed to slip along the fabric of her back. "Ain't sounded like a question befo'…. Ya sounded pretty sure it was me."

"Did you or did you not?"

"Neva got 'er name but if ya talkin' 'bout tha redheaded chick in tha bathin' room. Yeah... I beat 'er."

"Wasn't she spectacular?"

Natus blinked several times at the question. She couldn't tell if that was adoration or some sort of childish admiration or even a crush. It was said so blandly but there was a deep tone in the way it was spoken. Not a whisper but something else just at the back of the arrancar's throat. With all her might she stopped her brain from running down the long list of questions that came up about romantic or sexual feelings of hollows. They weren't supposed to have any since they were the more primal instincts in human nature. Not the complex one like desire and love.

She gave another sloppy shrug while her eyes danced over the arrancar's frame to help refocus her attention on whatever ploy it was playing. It was being completely casual and there was no killing intent coming from it just yet. It hadn't even made another move as it stood almost like a statue with its arms dropped by its sides. However being in enemy territory was never a good idea, and it was making her antsy just conversing and staying still. The lion in her was huffing and snorting on its haunches as it was making the same analysis. They were too prone in this position, and while she prefered slower paced fights this was bordering on mental games and anticipation. Let's face it, she hated being on the receiving end of those. She could hear the way her palms gripped onto her hilt just a bit tighter as her sweaty skin rubbed against the fabric there.

"Ya can say wha'eva ya want," Natsu retorted as she made subtle shifts into her fighting stance to make sure they were unnoticed. "She got a bit of a talkin' problem though… Tried 'avin' a conversation wit' 'er but couldn't 'ear a word then she gets ta 'er shriekin'."

"That's what's so fabulous about her. She knows both silence and then her cries are the last lament for the soul that she kills." The arrancar made an easy sway, jerking Natsu's body into attention like a puppeteer does to a puppet, as it began to explain. "It's a pure cry for those that have to die by her hands. A beautiful last sound."

"Ya ain't eva 'eard it 'ave ya? … Tha' shriek ain't anythin' pretty."

By then, the arrancar had danced slowly around until it stood perpendicular to her. "I suppose this what is called a difference of opinion, for I see the banshee's last call as a beautiful sound and you appear to have a different thought." It's hand creeped up again as in gesture to her; whatever hand gesturing to her covered by the long sleeves that slithered along the floor like a snake with each movement of the limb. "What would you consider fitting noise for your departure from life?"

Natsu narrowed her eyes slightly at the tiny pick in the arrancar's reiatsu as she sunk very noticeably into her fighting stance. Forget trying to surprise the arrancar with her preparedness, and just let it know that she was ready. Her sword came up diagonal along her chest, with the blade facing the enemy, and she kept the weight in her thighs as she knocked her knees down a bit more so she would be ready to push off Her hands wrapped more firmly around her hilt, fingers digging in, and she positioned her zanpakuto just that much more on a slant as her eyes peered through the steel that cut between her eyes to see what was happening.

"I gotta say, unfortunately, I'mma bit partial ta jazz maself." Natsu smirked as she ground out the words. "Sucks ta be honest."

"Jazz? I have never heard of such a thing…. When I have finished with you, I will have to do some research."

"Cocky ain't ya? - Who says ya gonna beat me?"

"Because I already have."

Natsu crashed down to the ground, with her chin dropping and clanging down last as tried to keep herself up. The pain ricocheted up and she subconsciously found her eyes closing as she took in the pain. It started with the clatter of her teeth, biting heavily into the insides of her cheeks, and then raced all along her throat as she was tilting her neck at an odd angle to accommodate the pressure. Then it traveled along her head as she felt suctioned down into the ground, while simultaneously being pulled back into the air. Almost as if something wanted to split her in two. Small neurons continued to travel about as they went along her spine, to register and try and describe where the pain was coming from in order to triage the situation. Her toes shook, trying to get rid of the trails of pain and the remnants of electricity, until they too were locked down against the ground so that she lay prone in her pain.

She tossed her cheek to the ground as she tried to peer over her own form to see what was keeping her on the ground but could not see it clearly. Pulling in air became just that much harder as she was pushed further and further down until she felt the pulse around her spine. The weight lifted up just slightly but there was no way for her to move about even still.

"Would you like to know how I've won?" The arrancar called from up ahead.

Natsu grinded her teeth just slightly before she gurgled out, "sure."

"I watched your fight with Tumula and observed all your abilities and came to the conclusion that my own released state would be more than enough to kill you." The arrancar chided and Natsu found herself looking at a black sock and the white sandal that covered it since the body had come a bit closer to her. "I released my form before you had even come into the hallway."

"Cautious fella ain't ya?" Natsu quipped with as much easy inflection as possible as she tested the strength on her body again.

"It is not caution. It is strategy…. And it appears I was correct in my calculations since I have become the victory."

"I ain't dead."

"You will be... Shortly."

Natsu paused slightly and finally popped her wrists around so that they were both face down to the ground. With how she had been standing in her fighting stance, her hands and her zanpakuto had gotten locked beneath parts of her body when she had been forced to the ground by whatever weight was above her. Everything was just uncomfortable about the position she was in, with her zanpakuto edging into her own ribs under all the weight and her wrists awkwardly pressed close to her body. By flipping her wrists around it made the pain worse, a small bleary spark shooting through the numbing feeling she felt all along her body, as she hand her palms now pressed to the ground. The countdown in her head moved on a bit faster than she wanted or should have done, she wasn't even sure if her zanpakuto wouldn't get caught in the crosshairs, but she pushed forward.

"Hadou 32: Okasen."

The floor beneath her cracked and then shuddered and she went falling down into the hollow space beneath her. Immediately, her arm stretched down and gripped onto her zanpakuto as her and this invisible weight began their free fall through the air to the what she could barely register as another floor below her. She swung around and cut through the thing that had been on her back and was immediately rewarded by watching the black, amorphous mass shrink from the cut. The victory of escape couldn't be rewarded as her own back erupted into tingles and then a pulse of heat as she felt a cut being drag through her own skin. She contorted around and made out some of the falling blood just moments before she made a collision with the ground below her. She barely had enough time to make sure that she angled her body in such a way as to minimize the damage.

"You appear confused Shinigami," the arrancar stated as it shunpoed down to the area with her casually.

Natsu tossed her head around as she took in the open space that they were in. It appeared that she had been wrong in her first deduction. It wasn't another floor at all, but grains of white sand that she had landed in. She must have been in some type of bridge section around another part of the building, since she had now landed outside. The white sand fluttered around her feet and clung to her hands even as she dragged herself up to a standing position in front of the arrancar. Her back gave out a small scream at the movement but she remained steadfast in getting up and standing straight.

"I can explain that as well."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Ya will?"

"Of course. You will soon be dead so there's no need for me to be worried about you spreading the secrets." The arrancar flapped its hands and gave a small shrug, before wrapping its arms behind its back, sleeves flapping moments after. "My name is Sombro and I am arrancar 101, a former espada of Hueco Mundo. My ability is to control my opponent's shadow."

"Aizen got busy then…. 'Ow many of ya are there?"

"I am a fallen espada but that does not mean I am incapable of taking care of a small bug like you." Natsu narrowed her eyes at the arrancar's easy omission to everything and the nonchalance in the statement to its own power. "Tumula was the last of my faccion. I liked her for her silence because, you see, darkness needs silence to accompany it."

"Tha's jus' creepy." Natsu huffed out and gave the arrancar her a most pleasant smirk, which startled her momentarily. The figure was becoming a bit more recognizable as time seemed to pass. Something about that smirk was sending off warning bells in her head. "She wasn't tha' quiet ya know?"

"Joking even still."

Natsu felt her feet taken out from underneath her and she was found herself flung over and over again through the air. It created a semicircle of a flying body as she was knocked from one side to another. Her eyes could barely make out the mass that was her own shadow. Shadow-Natsu had obtained her exact form, from the whips of her shihakusho as it moved about to the pattern of her sheaths at her back. It appeared though that there might be an amplification of some of her other powers, since she was absolutely positive she didn't have the physical strength to do what Shadow-Natsu was portraying right now.

Natsu scrunched her eyes closed as she brought her hands up to stop her head from knocking down to the ground, as she was left into the sand so that shadow could take a break from overexerting its physical strength.

 _'ow I'mma gonna do this… Seems if I cut it, I cut maself too. So I ain't gonna use kido on it._

 _Just cut the arrancar. Stop thinking._

Natsu groaned slightly and then stuck her hand out as she peered up at the arrancar who was waiting patiently. "Hadou 33: Sokatsui."

Her shadow moved on its own right and Natsu gritted her teeth before she felt the blast of the kido hitting her own stomach. She arched up and then flopped down onto the sand as she splattered up some of her blood from the hit that she had taken. Her body shriveled up as she tossed over to the side to hack up more blood and not choke on it. Her eyes scrunched closed as she felt the burn of the blue flames and groaned at the intensity of the pain that was born inside her and then came out through her.

"I said I control your shadow."

Natsu coughed out a bit more and let out a mock laugh. The pain in her stomach pulsed as she eyed the arrancar that was patiently standing, arms crossed behind its back, as it watched the scene. A smirk spread along her face as she choked a bit on the blood that was coming back up her throat. Was she really going to have to figure out a way to fight herself?

"Yeah, yeah… No need ta repeat. I'mma gonna fall ta sleep if ya do tha'. Ain't eva been good at listenin' ta people." Natsu waved off as she spat a little more blood out to the side.

"So now you understand that it is impo-"

"Boke." Natsu flung her hand out again and pointed it directly to the shadow. "Bakudo 63: Sajo Sabaku."

The shadow went crashing down as ropes of light surrounded it and it squirmed and thrashed under the light as it tried to get the ropes away from its chest and arms. Shadows are created when a light source, most often the sun, is blocked by an impenetrable object. In the hallway she had created a shadow simply by standing in the light of the sun and her body being the impenetrable force against the UV rays. It explained why those hallways had such large hallways, and why even the corners had light filling them, when they should have been dark since the hallway had been overexposed with light. It made also sense that ropes made of light would be the most effective at holding down a shadow.

However she hadn't anticipated the burning feeling she would have along her own skin from the constricting bakudo. Who knew that light would even effect a regular humans skin? She gritted down slightly and then pushed out hanki to cancel out the feeling of the binding on her own skin. The shadow was still squirming around, and Natsu to smirk as she played off being still stuck in the bindings for just a bit longer.

 _'parently I'mma bit betta than maself._

 _Get to work._

"You poor Shinigami." The arrancar chided as it came closer. "You are taking a remarkably long time to learn everything. Anything you do to your shadow will be immedi-"

"Reflected onta me. Yeah 'lready know tha'," Natsu cut through, as she thrust her arm up at the arrancar once it was looming over her. "Hadou 63: Raikouhou."

The bolts of lightening trailed away from her finger tips and she watched as the cloth suddenly held like a freeze frame in the air and then pooled down into the sands, almost being immediately swept away by the the gust of air from the disappearing form of the arrancar. Natsu gobbled up the air as she went about relaxing a bit into the ground letting the weight of it hug down on her more beaten up frame. Her eyes tossed over to the shadow that was lying still on its side and her eyes narrowed at the binds that were still tightly around it with a faint shimmer still traversing it. Then she flickered over to the cloth that was being tugged up in a flurry of cloth by the wind and traveling further away from her every second she watched it. Finally, it opened up with a sharp flap and then the widened tarp was pushed off into the empty desert behind it.

Her eyes jerked over to the side as she finally tuned back into the larger environment and surroundings. Rukia's reiatsu had all but disappeared from existence sometime during her fight and she hadn't even noticed. Narrowing her eyes, Natsu could feel that tiny little spark going through then noble's body, meaning she was still living but in a dire condition. The seal that she had on Rukia seared into her own reiatsu and she could tell how overworked it was getting from the smoke that was omitting from her body. It was even starting to pulse from how ineffective the treatment was becoming.

 _She's in bad shape… Shit. I shoul' trans-_

 _Natsu!_

Natsu flung herself away abruptly, and skittered into the sun as she saw the shadow breaking through the chains of the bakudo. The energy of breaking such a spell would have cause her a major blow had she been hit. She narrowed her eyes as the shadow drew out a long blade and was holding it out mercilessly as the black form took steps forward toward her.

"I told you to keep your eyes on your opponent, Shinigami."

Natsu let out a small puff of air and stretched up just slightly. Her eyes flickered over towards her sword, which now lay behind the arrancar since she had dropped it beforehand and then resorted to her old habits of kido. Her eyes travelled back over to the arrancar as fast as she could as she tried to figure out a way to get to her zanpakuto. "Ya in ma shadow… Can't go stealin' tha' ya know? Ain't very nice."

"It's been a long time since I was in a form this powerful." The arrancar spewed out and the shadow bent over backwards as long torrents of laughter came out. "I was going to steal your shadow later on, but this works just fine as well. I can finish the fight like this."

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter! I'm sorry for the delay. It's been a bit of a tough time since I've become pretty busy, but I'm hoping to go back to my regular schedule after this weekend. Please don't hold me to that, but know that I'm working as best as I can to update regularly every weekend. I do want to make sure my audience gets what they want.**

 **In other news, I am working on a Urahara Kisuke story. Some of you expressed interest in seeing that done. What I know right now is it's not going to follow this same pattern that I've put in this story and in _Building a Home_. Hopefully, it'll be a bit more original! I'd also like to acknowledge the wonderful help of xXFallenSakuraXx52 who's been helping me with the editing of the first chapters of that story, and will continue to help with the rest of the story. Thank you! I appreciate your hard work.**

 **Anyway, please comment/question/review/say 'hi'. Let me know how the story's going! Love hearing from you all.**


	37. Chapter 36

Natsu flew into a shunpo and made a leap over the shadow's shoulder; one executed to near perfection that even Yoruichi would approve of the elegance. The shunpo was not nearly as fast as it needed to be but it was good enough for the unprepared shadow that couldn't keep up with the sudden movement. Natsu tumbled over her shoulder as she landed on the other side and proceeded to somersault a few times as she didn't account for her own velocity and horrible history of landing awkwardly when using high speed shunpo. She could manage her body just well enough to re-organize her lanky body so that she could push off her re-aligned legs and direct herself the right way. As she spun like a fan on a ceiling, she grabbed at her sword and came to face her opponent again. She launched herself upright as quick as possible to defend against the incoming slam of the arrancar's sword against her own. Now on one knee, she pushed up with the leg that she had just been able to bring up and using her momentum she heaved Sombro as far away as she could with a swing of her zanpakuto.

In the clear, Natsu got back onto her feet and stared at the small jitters in her arm. If her hypothesis wasn't confirmed before, it definitely was now from the quivers of contracting muscles in her sword arm. The shadow had increased strength, and now it was even more than the last time. The change was probably from Sombro itself and not her own physical form; especially if Sombro's ability came from the release of the sealed state. Her eyes went back over to the prowling figure and they clashed swords again as they swapped sides, though needless to say it was impossible to tell since they glided along the same white landscape.

Slipping slightly in the sand, Natsu used her hand to catch herself on the ground, leaning her weight heavily onto her arm as she awkwardly dragged her sword to clatter again. Noticing that Sombro was digging its second hand into the hilt of its sword, Natsu dropped her hand and thumped against the sand back first. As the grains splattered up around her, she cut through them as she shifted her sword around so that she could support it like a bench-press bar above her head, as she lay prone on her back. Quickly, she followed through by sweeping her leg up and kicked the arrancar, who now loomed over her, back into the sunnier area of the desert and away from her.

Natsu couldn't spend any time staring up at the fake sun above her as she was forced to scramble back onto her feet. Her breaths felt like gushes of water when she was dehydrated as she pushed gulps down into her lungs. But instead of drowning, she tried to keep the breaths slow as she breathed out through her nose, so that she could calm her heart that had unfortunately picked up its pace. She just had enough time to prevent a swell in her reiatsu, before her eyes, which roved over Sombro, triggered another bought of heavy movements.

It was a physical type of play and even her teeth felt like they were straining as she felt them grind together. Her eyes blurred as she tried to keep up with all of Sombro's movements which were now a variety of sword-play and hakudo. In a way, this sort of fighting was giving her enough time to think about the situation as a whole. The body of her enemy was a shadow that reflected any of its hits back on her, while also being able to inflict its own attacks onto her body. This was a characteristic which held true even as Sombro took over direct control of her shadow as apparent by the cuts that were beginning to line her body. Not to mention, Sombro was also a decent fighter from the numerous amounts of bruises or cuts that she was adopting from its abuse.

Sombro got a good knock into her sternum and Natsu flew back along the sands, taking a small tumble over the heels of her feet, as a deep breath left her lungs.

 _This ain't good…_

Natsu raised her eyes slightly, as she found herself locking eyes with what should have been the reflection of her own honey-auburn freckled eye color but was nothing but the color of black. The brief moment transpired in no more than half a second as Natsu was just about able to recollect her breath before they fell into another volley of sword play. The arrancar easily could outmaneuver her and outdo her in terms of strength with the amount of hits that she was taking. It was also apparent that light didn't seem to effect its abilities as they were traveling over the sands in their fight.

"Who knew fightin' yaself could be so tough." Natsu choked out as she wiped at some of the blood that was streaming down her lip from the knock to the center of her ribs. "Ya got pretty silent all o' a sudden. Don't tell me ya done talkin'."

"I see no point in talking to a soon to be corpse." The arrancar swiped the sword off to the side in the same way its words came out slightly careless and bland.

Natsu smirked slightly and steady her sword in front of her. "O' ya jus' worried tha' I migh' fin' somethin' out… Picked up on ya previous tip quick didn't I?"

"You picked up on nothing, Shinigami."

"Ya sure 'bout tha'?" Natsu jokingly swayed her sword about from left to right. "Tha' sword ya 'ave ain't mine. Ya said ya knew all ma abilities an' ya made it sound like when ya took ma shadow ya gained ma 'bilities… 'Ow come ya ain't usin' em then?"

"Using?"

"Tsk, tsk, arrancar. Gotta 'plain everythin' ta ya?"

Natsu smirked again as they fell into another volley. Obviously this arrancar wasn't completely aware of Shinigami abilities to the fullest extent. Probably because Aizen wanted to get rid of the poor sucker and was just using Sombro to get his ends. As if a spotlight had landed on her opening, Natsu took it and finally ended up getting a long, useful slash through Sombro's chest to which the arrancar quickly backed away from its own upcoming attack to tend to its wound. There was a groan from the arrancar, who slumped slightly in pain, and then she was also hissing as the cut appeared on her chest. She looked down to see the three diagonal slashes that she had ended up with which was the only sign that Sekhmet wasn't completely awake yet.

 _Annoyin' thang ya ar'_

 _Shut up_

 _Ya shoul' be 'wake 'lready ya slo'poke_

Natsu cut off whatever growl Sekhmet could release as she turned around slightly and then gestured to the wound. She refrained from stupidly patting at it, which in an Ikkaku-like move would have proved her "superior pain thresh hold", which she didn't actually have. She was much better at admitting to her screaming unlike Ikkaku who left the nurses unprepared. "This wha' I mean'…. None ya cuts 'ave been replicatin' which means ya ain't usin' tha 'bility... Then 'gain is not like ya need to really 'cause I get stuck wit' 'em anyway."

"I will give you praise then Shinigami." The arrancar adjusted slightly as the shadowy figure tried to work around the deep slash it had collected on its chest now. "Not only did you land a very good hit on my body but you are also correct in your assumption."

Natsu let out a small chuckle as she dragged the tanto from her back. Sombro shifted slightly, edging to a perpendicular stance so that it could protect its now damaged chest, and avidly looked at her movements as it coated its dark eyes on her hand's every twitch. With a generous flick of her wrist, a nervous twitch on Sombro's part as the arrancar got ready to fly if she threw the tanto, Natsu whimsically held the piece up to her chest. When she had more reiatsu, like in this moment, the rate of healing was also much faster, so closing up cuts and deep gashes was possible even on the battle field even at the increased rate of losing energy. The heat sizzled up instantly and she could feel the cells as they began to close up.

"Wh- Are you healing your wounds?" the arrancar spluttered slightly, before reminding itself that taking a step forward was definitely not the best fighting tactic; especially in situations when you don't have all the details.

Natsu smirked slightly and shook the tanto even as she kept it close to her chest. "I suppose ya jus' thought it was a tiny dagger I carried 'bout wit' me…. An' it looks like ma otha 'ssumption was correct."

"What other assumption?"

"Anythin' I do ta ma person ain't reflected ta ya." Natsu gestured slightly over to the wounds that still had the arrancar hunched over in its fighting stance. "So~," she whistled out, "tha means that tha true potential of ya ability is jus' stealin' a body. Tha' replicatin' thin's really 'nonyin' as 'ell but... Tha only question remainin' is if I can live withou' ma shadow. Ya think i's possible?"

"You've grown far too arrogant Shinigami." The arrancer jeered as picked itself up until it now stood upright, to overcompensate for its weakened form, and pointed its sword as it readied for a charge, much like how a bull paws at the ground before it begins tearing through the stadium to get at the matador. "There is no way that you can beat me with your powers even if you are capable of healing yourself. Our power difference is too much."

Natsu let out a sigh. She shut down Sekhmet who had begun to let out a furious, trembling words and was undoubtedly scratching at her inner brain to try at get at her floating thoughts which had been a passing wind in her inner world before she closed them off. She tightened her grip on the hilt of her zanpakuto and then on the tanto. For a brief moment she paused, the moment actually freezing as she tried to think if this really was the best option. Only her breaths and how the smallest quiver of her tanto came from the shake of her hand was before her eyes. The flash of sun over her sword, which directed the ray right to her eyes, blinded her for a moment; from the frenzy of unwelcome thoughts of how to live her life. The darkness behind her eyes silenced anything else that she could have been thinking; like how there's an unusual peace once the sun sets and all through the night, that is not there when the sun rises. Life has to sleep too.

 _Righ'... I made this decision._

Natsu thrust the tanto straight into her chest. Sekhmet let out an outraged roar as it growled out its complaint about damaging an already hurt body, but Natsu dug the sharpened tanto further into her body. It split through her skin easily enough with only a small cough from her at the feeling of something gutting her. She could hear the squelch of blood and the small pop of a few air bubbles in her blood as she continued to push the dagger into her chest. The blood trickled down instantly as she dug it in a bit further so that it stood in place until she knew it was really best to stop. The short dagger was in the area just over her left breast and close to her heart; near the very valves that helped with blood flow along the body. And now the film that Sekhmet naturally set up, was being set up externally as she felt the wrap of the light red, see-through coffin come around her. Natu's hand traveled away from the hilt immediately and implanted a strong kaido over the organs inside her body and added a double bakudo over her heart within a few seconds before she dropped again to grasp at her zanpakuto with two hands.

"Are you nuts?" Sombro's words came out a bit twisted as Natsu's brain automatically focused on the way her body was trying to push out her tanto; as if part of herself was a virus that shouldn't be there. Sombro continued talking, even as she eyed the area where she had created her own incision and the unusual calmness that took over her heart rate even upon seeing a tanto sticking out of her chest. "Do you not care for your body?"

"My body's treat'ble." Natsu shrugged slightly and stared at the red film that was finishing covering her entirely and trapping in a bit more of the sweat that had worked up. Her zanpakuto was pretty close to waking up but she'd make do. "Is yer's?"

"What?"

"Is ya body healable? 'Cause I ain't got time ta 'old back on ya," Natsu proclaimed a bit more as she raised up her two hands, with her zanpakuto swiveled so that it created a bridge between them. Her fingertips brushed together as her two hands created a hole for her to focus the reishi and for her to correctly aim her hadou.

"Wa - Wait. You can't be serious! You're seriously going to destroy me? Your body will never withstand the impact!"

"Boke." Natsu jeered slightly as she cocked her head with her smirk fashioning back onto place. "Ya really don't know anythin'… A heala don't care 'bout thin's they know they can 'eal. Only 'bout things tha' otha's say can't 'eal."

"You'll die Shinigami."

"So will ya….. Bakudo 61: Rikujokoro." The six beams of light immediately locked down onto the target as the arrancar screamed out, struggling in vain for an escape. Natsu only shook her head slightly as she let out another puff of air which helped her to focus on bursting hanki around her and breaking the bakudo so that she could finish off her attack. "Hadou 73: Soren Sokatsui."

She heaved up blood immediately and then dropped down onto her knees. Everything swerved around her instantly and her vision blackened out as she tipped over the side. Over the small lumps of white that were in her vision, she made out the large piles of steam that were coming up from the area that her opponent had been in. She let the image drop out as the light of the sun beamed down on her and Sekhmet whispered that she would take care of everything else.

 _Sounds familia'_

* * *

This time her dream was something just a bit different than anything she had experienced before. She vividly was looking around for something in the beginning. What she was searching for wasn't known even to her, but her head was flopping around and around from side to side, before laying still. Her own consciousness recognized her hand slightly as it raised before her eyes. For a brief moment she was staring startled at the stubby form of her fingers and the fat palms, before that surprise became subdued. Yet the dream version of her was still staring at her stubby hand with half awe and half curiosity. She knew it was a hand but only her subconscious knew, since it seemed that the dream version of her wasn't capable of actually recognizing the limb that was before her. Dream-her stretched and flexed it several times, gripping at empty air, before shaking it vigorously, before she was moving around to look at other things since she grew bored of seeing 'if it was possible to shake off a hand'.

Her eyes teetered around and everything was upside down but this version of her didn't know that. To this dream version of her - the baby version of her, now that Natsu could fully comprehend the situation - everything in the world around her was exactly how it should be. There was no correct way, and no wrong way. It took her a long moment of rocking before she was flopping down onto her stomach having gotten there from her back. Her head took in the door or what she actually saw as something weird and dark looking with something that was shining that was attached to it. It was blocking something and even her baby version brain somehow collected that people entered from that area. People would just show up and appear from somewhere just outside of that area.

Her limbs were hard to control but somehow she parked her thighs up close to her chest and was pushing up. The ground beneath her felt shaky even though she knew it should have been straight and easy to walk along. She found herself sticking her arms out and her body was tilting forward as she teetered forward a bit from the excess weight. Her legs went flying in a tumble and she rammed down onto the ground again with her entire stomach going up into aches and her knees hurting like they had been cut up by a numerous thumb tacks.

She let out a bushel of whimpers, the rattling going into the back of her throat just on the cusp of being released before she found herself looking at the weird plank of wood that let people appear and disappear. Her tears dried up immediately and her attention was so intent on the weird contraption before her that she forgot her cries. She was back on her feet with that teetering jumble until her weight was flying her forward too fast for her legs to keep up. Faced with a dilemma of not being able to control her legs, she let out a small shrieking gurgle and watched as the ground grew too close to her face again.

Thin, yet sturdy, hands instantly swooped in and they propped her up before she could hit the ground. But, of course, her baby brain wouldn't recognize the fingers exactly for what they were. Her wailing, as if cries would halt her body in mid-fall, stopped for only one thing. It was within the moment, even her small brain could instantly recognize that scent of cinnamon trolling out and overtaking the air and the strength beneath her. Her wide eyes blinked several times before she let out a cheering chirp and thrust her hands out in her tilted state. Her pudgy fingers sank down into the folds of fabrics; under which her subconscious, adult brain knew were very, knobby knees. The rest of her body was brought up underneath her and she found herself now standing up properly with the help of the strong hands around her torso.

Her wide eyes stared up immediately and she cheered again at the brown eyes and the wide grin that was staring down at her from it hunched over frame. The long wisps of blonde hair fell over his shoulder and her fingers immediately fell into it and gave it a yank. A grumbled series of words left his lips immediately and she knew then that she had tugged harder than she intended. But her baby brain in the dream didn't seem to know that as her gummy hands continued to tug at the hairs in her clutch. She was taken up and the air danced around her as she stared in wonder that she was somewhere else her pea-sized brain couldn't recognize at all. She was just in arms, and there was nothing below her. Yet, instead of being scared of being high up, she knew what was going to come next.

Natsu forced her eyes open instantly and stared up at the bright, blue sky above her. A quick glance around told her that she was still in the white sands and not back in another memory, because there were too many to count of her staring up at blue skies and she didn't want to recall anything more traumatic. That would just be an imposition of her brain on her emotions. Instead, Natsu was almost happy to see that she was still stuck in Hueco Mundo in the greedy fingers of "great lord" Aizen. The image of the painted sun was somewhere behind her, so it didn't blare down on her, and she couldn't feel the heat, but the brightness was the same. She took in long breathes as she cleared out her vision to take in the stream of fake light that was coming down toward the ground and the way that the clouds were moving about; or at least giving the illusion of moving about as she continued to stare at them.

 _You're still very injured, Natsu… That was a very dangerous thing that you did._

 _… Whateva, tha 'rrancar is dead so it don't matta._

 _It does, since your reiryoku went wild while you were passed out. I was able to get it settled and heal up a good portion of the damage._

 _Ma reiatsu?_

 _There but you should take it easy if possible. Another battle and you'll be drained within only a few minutes of fighting._

Natsu let out a small groan as she pulled herself up from what felt like ten thousands pounds of water. The gashes that she once had along her body were healed up for the most part from the previous work just before her final move, so they no longer were hurting intensely. But they strained as she was stretching them with each movement she made to sit up. Even still with the dull throb of pain, Natsu continued to inch her fingers up and gave the tanto still plunged in her chest a sharp tug. As the red film around her body disappeared, her entire body fell back over into the padding of the sand as her body seized and continued to twitch from the pain of the harsh rip. The harsh convulsion sent ripples from the other cuts and the waves that she was under took long minutes, stretched like hours, to settle.

When she was done surfing along the residuals of pain and unconsciousness, a sharp call from Sekhmet keeping her from falling over into her memories, Natsu continued with a mental check of her body. None of the organs had been damaged from the layers of bakudo she had put on them, and then Sekhmet's healing which had kicked in instantly around the kidou. She could even feel that her ribs were not cracked but they were still incredibly tender.

Moving would be a problem though. There was a deep seated weariness in her bones as when she attempted to push herself up so that she could do a visual assessment. The blood rush was instantaneous, having her see black spots, as her head swayed and slumped every which way trying to stay upright. Her limbs quivered from the simple idea of moving and her brain was rolling through ideas like a tortoise moved towards its destination, so eventually she decided just to stay laying down and do what she could from her prone position. A few words escaped her lips, as she tried to gather strength into her fingers so she could get through the moment alone.

Her reiryoku may have been settled which was keeping any worsening pain away, but her reiatsu was just about under what Sekhmet had said because of the actual healing process. Sekhmet's healing ability was a trade off of using her own reiatsu to heal herself. It essentially wore her out by focusing on the natural healing process of her own body and speeding that same process up to fix her. Ironically the process was a lot slower than how the process worked on another person.

She searched through her sleeve and then dug out the medical bag. Her healing water, unfortunately, was something that wouldn't actually work in this instance because it would be repeating the same process that the tanto had attempted to do. In this case that would be redundant because the tanto had already fixed as much as it could using her own reiatsu to do so. The water didn't give her back any reiatsu because of its diluted nature and would barely heal her at all.

She drifted into the bag and collected up antiseptic. She immediately uncovered her wound by squirming until the top of her shihakusho was off of her shoulders; an unfortunate necessity even as her body throbbed from the movements. Then she doused the stabbed area with a cotton cloth that she had spilled the antiseptic haphazardly on. She blew out slowly as her body inflamed with the heavy alcohol seeping in. She dabbed at it a few times before she left the small cloth on her wound, as her hand scurried around her bag to where she knew her other materials were. She tilted her head just enough to make sure that she was collecting a needle and her dis-solvable thread, which she brought up over her head to stare at as she lay back down on the sands. Her fingers quivered restlessly as they stayed above her and she let out several curses before she was able to get the thread through the eye of the needle.

Natsu moved back to the side and gripped onto the tanto which she stuffed into her mouth to bite down on. She wiped her hand as best as possible on her shihakusho and then tapped around until she found the wound, immediately ridding it of the cloth of antiseptic that covered it. Using one hand, Natsu squeezed the skin as tight as possible together and then began the long process of sewing the hole closed. She ground down onto the hilt, feeling a bit of her saliva upchucking in her throat at the pain she was imposing on herself. Her fingers slipped every so often and the needle would scrap along her skin with her blood and sweat slicked skin. Even in her sleep she had let out a lot of heat and she was coated in a fine sheen of sweat already.

 _Fuckin' sucks…. Why couldn't ya be able ta 'eal me prop'ly?_

 _Because that would just mean you could avoid death._

 _…. Nah. It would jus' mean I couldn't get mort'ly wounded._

Natsu let the needle rest against her chest as she finished with the sewing and gathered up more breath through her nose so that she could finish patching herself up without passing out again. A few puffs of black smoke rose up before and she couldn't stop the "tsk" and her eyes from rolling at the sight. Her fingers reached up to take the tanto from her mouth after a few more moments of grinding and then they flopped down onto her stomach with a small hollow thud. She dragged herself to the surroundings and felt all the reiatsus around which included the serious injured Chad and Rukia, as well as the new addition of Orihime.

 _Looks like we're gonna 'ave ta retreat._

 _You can't make a garganta at this rate, Natsu._

 _Shudup._

Natsu let out another groan and then pushed herself up from the sand. The world swerved around in circles and she shut her eyes as her body wanted to tumble backwards. She kept herself up with jittering arms, and breathed through the intense wave of nausea that was hitting her. She heaved up another long pump of black smog as she hacked out as much as she could with more forced coughs. She felt the pulse from her lungs and then she swung over to the side as she let out an actual dry heave of the liquids in her body.

Her eyes opened slightly and she looked up ahead of her so as not to look at the drear, watery, vomit that was below her. The desert came to a stand still and Natsu gave a slow nod as she drew back until she was sitting in a 'W' along the said. She shifted around and got the bag to her front and sorted through it. She drew out her scissors and gave the needle with the remaining thread a snip, before she was packing everything up again and hiding it into her sleeve.

She collected up her tanto and slipped it behind into the sheath and then wobbled over towards her katana which she also placed into the sheath. She couldn't make out any enemy reiatsus around so she would take the risk of putting away. It would give her just a bit longer to collect up some strength. She blinked several times and then brought out her medical bag again.

Her fingers grasped on to a small bottle that she kept towards the back of the bag, since she almost had no need to make use of the stamina pills. She slept so often that she was constantly in a restful state with her reiatsu pretty close to full, even if her face betrayed that fact. She took out two burgundy pills with the skull and crossbones painted on top of them and popped them into her mouth. It wasn't so much that energy swept back into her, but that she felt the weight lessen from all around her body.

She sorted that small container back into the side pocket and then maneuvered around for another container. This one contained reiatsu boosters which were only to be used during emergency situations if the reiatsu was too low to even attempt doing a restoration. Kind of like an electric shock to the systems of the body which help convert reishi into reiatsu. They didn't always work properly because most of the time the pills had a less than 1% possibility of infusing properly with the receeding reiatsu, or the shinigami's will was already gone. They were administered simply because of procedure but almost none of the members of the fourth division really believed in the potential of the pill.

 _Worth a shot… Seein' as I ain't even close ta dyin' an' ma reiatsu should be okay fo' this._

 _Will it not damage you, Natsu?_

 _Ya focus on restin' fo' now…. Don't know when I'mma gonna 'ave ta figh' 'gain._

 _…. I will do that then._

Natsu popped the solitary pill into her mouth and chewed it up as she stuffed the container back into the slot. She zipped the bag again and then shrunk it so that she could get it into her sleeve. She felt a small crackle in her reiryoku and spat out a slob of saliva tinted with that black color. Then she coughed out another long train of black smoke. Her reiryoku spluttered back to life and she punched down on it repeatedly until it settled with the force. She'd have to figure out if that was because of the pill or if it was just the luck of timing. But that could wait until much, much later. Preferably when she's slept off the past few months of work.

She calmed down her breath to a steady stream and looked at the slipped shihakusho top. With the heat that she was producing, it was better to keep off anything that would contain the heat around her body and make the symptoms worse, and with the wrapping around her chest there was no need for any concern about flashing anyone. She realigned the straps of her sheaths so that they were along her bare stomach and then let the fabrics of her top fall down to her hips. Then she got up from the dunes of sand and made her way back over to the bridge that she had dropped down from.

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah... I think I mentioned before that Natsu was a really reckless fighter. She's really a sucky strategist. I don't know why I made her that way. Maybe I just thought she wouldn't have any patience for things that got in her way; particularly from interrupting her naps. Probably when someone sees her with the most energy with her trying to escape her responsibilities and such!**

 **Now that I think about it, it's kind of ironic that she's so reckless and hates fighters like Ikkaku since characters like our favorite baldy don't really use strategy either. I guess that makes her a hypocrite. Hm~~~ Who knows, where that really comes from. What do you guys think?**

 **I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Let me know. Please comment/review/ask questions/say 'hi'. Love hearing from you all.**


	38. Chapter 37

Nastu let out a small grunt as she flicked her sword along the charging opponents; first to the right and then to the left as she pounced through the hallway doing her best to not move her torso too much. Her legs slipped just slightly from the strain of the movements as she turned to face them to see that enough damage was done. A series of four slashes appeared along theirs chests and they let out a series of whines and grunts before they both flopped down to the ground. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she flicked the sword to clean it from all the blood that was on it, before sliding it back into her sheath.

She had stumbled down the hallway only to encounter with low-level arrancar which had been been drawn to the area because of the fight. Or at least she assumed that the fight was what had brought them since it appeared that they took her beaten and worn state as an easy kill and attempted to jump her. Why they hadn't bothered to do so before when she was treating her wounds wasn't something she even bothered to toy around with. She could feel the way her blood was burning through her body, an ashy feeling of anger lining her adrenaline, and her shoulders were twerked into a near uncomfortable position. She was stiff, but was forced to stay loose because tension on her injuries was not good, but she really just wanted a nap and she wanted to get the hell out this fake desert. She wanted the sun again; that real warmth that came down from the sky as she baked underneath it.

Natsu was not the type to fool around and play with enemies at all even on a good day; and today was definitely taking a turn towards a really, really bad day. She may joke with those stronger than her to give her time to analyze the situation and try to theorize through the fight so that she could live, but that was all strategy and had nothing to not taking her opponent seriously. Honestly, she'd been caught off guard one too many times as a young child, and given her weakened constitution, she had gotten used to using the tactic to help her win. But, if they were weaker than her then she did her best to get out the situation as fast as possible. Which was why there was a trail of withering bodies behind her after no more than a few seconds. They would definitely live to see the next day once they were treated properly. She just couldn't have anyone following after her.

She had been half tempted to go and find either Chad or Rukia after she initially started moving but had decided against that plan since her reiatsu was already weak enough as it was. Natsu could feel how the seals were still working, and because of that she could tell that neither had passed over into the other realm. In fact, while it may have been impossible to tell the extent of their injuries, but she was positive that both of them would live. Though, the process would probably take a long time seeing as she had to slow down how much work she was doing on their bodies. How could she let her own body deteriorate when it was still needed to heal those two, even if it was in such a small way? At least she could tide over the injuries so that they wouldn't get worse until they could both get full treatments by the fourth division.

Because she had rejected Plan A of rejoining some of the group, she went with Plan B which was to see if she could get into any of the rooms that seemed to either be hidden in the walls or had obvious doors to get inside. However, all the knobs that she had touched had barely even turned, and when she rattled the door it only remained locked inside its frame. And if they didn't have knobs then they had some sort of electronic lock, to which she did not have the access code to put in. Whatever was in them would remain hidden to her keen eyes.

 _What are you walking around for?_

 _Ta see wha's ahead…. Buy time fo' ma reiatsu._

 _How boring_

 _Ya neandertha'. Ya jus' wan' me ta go runnin' 'round and go killin' thin's?_

 _I'm just saying that this is boring_

 _I thin-_

Her eyes slightly narrowed as she heard a much muffled jingle. She pushed out a deep breath from her lungs as she slumped slightly so that her knees were bent into a loose position and ready to jump if needed. She scratched at her cheek slightly, looking about through the hall to see if it was from an enemy. When the jingle came again, her brows furrowed as she noticed no movements from ahead of her, from behind, or from the sides. Besides wouldn't an enemy have stopped moving if she did? Especially if they knew they made noise when they walked.

By the time a third jingle rang out in the empty hallway, something flickered in her head and she undid the sleeves of her shihakusho which were wrapped around her hips so that she could shift through the left one. She drew out her pack with another hum on her lips as she took the phone from the bottom of the bag. Then she zipped it up and tossed the strap over her shoulder and continued on her walk; now much more relaxed than she had been before. Honestly, that lion always got her into a tizzy when it was in this fighting state. How two completely separate entities could co-exist - human and lion - was something she still questioned to this day, but Sekhmet was adamant that they got along perfectly. It was only her that found it awkward, apparently, because Sekhmet believed that both violence and healing intersected at some point which was where her powers were from; a duality that caused harm and healed it at the same time.

She flipped the phone up and brought it close to her ear as she spoke into it. "Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. The number you are trying to reach is not available at this moment. At the tone, please record your message. When you are finished recording, you may hang up or press 1 for more options… Beep."

"Splendid rendition Natsu-san~" Kisuke chuckled as he called down the other end of the phone. "Maybe I shouldn't have missed so many of your calls before hand?"

"Wha's up? 'Ow'd ya know I ain't dead yet?"

Kisuke let out a small 'tsk' and she could see him waggling his fan as if her nose was ready to be whacked had she been there in front of him instead of talking to him on the phone. "Now, now. You wouldn't go and die on me Natsu-san…. Not without leaving me a goodbye message at least. Or I hope you would leave me one."

"Whateva." Natsu sighed into the phone and shifted slightly. Her other hand wrapped around one of her pony-tails and flipped it over her back so that it wasn't irritating the skin of her stomach or the prickled skin by the slashes on her chest. "Whatta ya want? – Actually, 'ow do I still got cell reception 'ere?"

"Which is why you brought the cellphone with you anyway?" Kisuke prodded slightly. Natsu shrugged even though she knew he couldn't see it, because she actually didn't know why she had brought the equipment with her other then when she needed the information he had sent about the garganta. "Don't tell me you missed me Natsu-san~ It's so nice to be miss—"

"Whatta ya want ya perv'?" Natsu cut off with a small twitch under her eye flaring up. She huffed slightly and switched the foot that she was leaning on. Leave it to Kisuke to make inappropriate jokes at the wrong time.

Kisuke chuckled again. "Did you not get a good night's sleep, Natsu-san? You should make sure to remedy that."

"Will do…. When I stop gettin' a pesty fly by ma ear at odd times o' tha nigh' askin' fo' weird requests."

"So cruel~"

Natsu sighed silently and peered through the glass up at the sky before turning back to the hallway that was still very much deserted. No matter which direction she looked the coast was clear of any movements, but there was a small tug through her gut that was preventing her from losing her wariness about the situation. "I wanna get some sleep soon Kisuke, so why don't ya tell me wha's up."

"Very well Natsu-san… I've been preparing the garganta again and wished to make sure that it was stable on the other side."

"I's fine. 'less ya talkin' 'bout all tha figh's goin' on."

"Great~" Kisuke chirped out. "Well then, I will speak to you later on Natsu-san. Best of luck."

"Yeah, yeah. Luck ta ya too Kisuke."

Natsu let out a small hum as she flipped the phone closed, and as the hum became the song that she was used to mumbling out, she put the phone back into her bag that was on her shoulder. She slipped the bag away and into the sleeve of her shihakusho which she then wrapped up around her waist again so that they wouldn't drag behind her, or become too dirty which would mean that she would be forced to clean it even more thoroughly. Perhaps, she would just burn it so she didn't have to go through the hassle. As she let her thoughts drift about how to best clean herself up, she pressed a finger onto the fourth division communicator, but all she could hear was the static that was echoing through. Her hand fell back down and then she stuck them both into the pockets of her trousers as she continued to hum the small ditty that had for so long been a part of her memory.

 _How did that even stay in your ear?_

 _... Don't kno', don' care._

 _Ho-_

 _Shud up. Ya interruptin' impor'an' thoughts_

 _You have those?_

Natsu rolled her eyes at the whiny growl from Sekhmet as she continued cautiously through the hallway. The fact that there was silence on the other side of her communicator meant that the war hadn't started yet. This meant that Aizen was still very much within the walls of Las Noches, watching every move that she and the group made. Undoubtedly, there was also an army that he was going to send out to the front lines to meet with the Gotei 13 forces, because Aizen was not stupid enough to think that he could fight all of the captains at once. If she could assume anything about the twisted man, he was probably saving the top echelons of the espada; not mention Tosen and Ichimaru who followed after their captain like little puppies and would most certainly go to the war front. Obviously, though, this top echelon of fighters was not going to waste their time fighting a bunch of little flies, when the real opponents were in Fake Karakura Town, so that would explain this small lag of enemies that she was encountering now.

 _Orihime could have outrun her usefulness_

 _... When ya get time ta star' thinkin' like tha'?_

 _I'm smart thank you very much!_

 _Is tha' so?_

 _Shut up!_

Her thoughts then trailed over to Kisuke's small message. If he was opening up the garganta then that meant that someone else was probably on their way here right now. There was none left of Ichigo's friends to send through. Actually, Natsu wasn't even sure if Ichigo had any more friends than the group that was already here. This left only some members of the Gotei 13 to come through to Hueco Mundo. In actuality, the Gotei 13 could spare a few faces but she couldn't imagine that the old man would actually retract on previous orders and send anyone that was above a fukutaicho level. Why would that old man bother to go and save people that had disobeyed his order, after all? He had very little patience or mercy for those who betrayed him.

Thankfully, Natsu broke away from the thoughts that were swirling through her brain by using the distraction that was ahead of her. Her eyes flickered over to the new hallway that branched off from the central one she had been walking down and slowed her steps just slightly as she noticed something peering out from the shadows there. As she moved around so that she could figure out exactly what it was, her eyes narrowed at the lax posture of the man slumped against the wall that was revealed to her. He had one foot propped up on the wall whilst the other was straight down. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his head gently tilted over to the side to look at her as she settled perpendicular to him, having walked closer during her inspection of him.

He had silverish hair that under the light looked almost pale white, as if there was no shade to it at all. His eyes were a piercing red color which strolled over her and seemed to drift up along with the smoke that was rolling off of her torso in a stream of rapids of steam interrupted by large clouds that came out suddenly. His flickered back over to her and then stood up erect so that she could see the endless white of his uniform; white hakama, white sash, and a white overcoat which was a bit too short to show off his midriff and the hollow hole in his stomach.

"Sucks," Natsu whispered under her breath, as Sekhmet let out a roar in her inner world, and her hand fell down onto her hilt. If her zanpakuto had been right about anything, it was the very fact that she'd have to get done with the fight fast. She had little in her reserves left, if she still wanted to make a garganta for everyone to return directly to Soul Society. "Ya also a fallen 'spada?"

His voice was cool and came off with a tiny jingle as his words waved up and down in slow motion like they were in the belly of a loud yawn. "No I am neither a facción nor an espada."

"Cool… So wha' are ya?"

"I work as a messenger for the king of Las Noches."

"Som'one sendin' me messages. I'mma flattered." Natsu mocked slightly as she shifted her feet out. The man only glared at her and came a bit further off the wall so that he could stand facing her more fully. "Well say wha' ya gotta say."

"Aizen-sama was greatly surprised by your success against Sombro. He has sent me here because he trusts my abilities to finish you, and being entrusted with such a will I simply cannot let you mock it."

Natsu drew out the sword and twisted it around so that it was pointed up right towards the ceiling. "Aizen's been watchin' me… Now tha's a bit creepy."

His words came out a bit sharper like a thrashing snake as it lashed out to sink its fangs into its prey. "Aizen-sama can see everything that is within his light. Don't speak so casually of the man's power."

"Ya sound too trustin' ya know?" Natsu shrugged slightly and slid down into her kendo stance with her two hands posed and her knees letting her body sink down. "'ow much ya actually know 'bout ya 'king'?"

Her eyes widened and she looked down to her chest as she heard more than felt the pop of something entering her skin. His hand had plunged straight into the area that she had stitched up earlier from the tanto wound. Her teeth gritted down and she jumped backwards until it was her up against the wall, before those arrancar fingers could reach anywhere near the valves of her heart. Blood slopped over the sides of the gouge as she felt it falling like a torrent from a raging faucet, as she maintained her eyes on him to see if he would come in for another forthright attack. Her left hand reached up and touched the area gently before bringing the blood to look at, before repositioning her body more to the side to preemptively protect her chest from any more attacks.

"Ya strong." Natsu commented blandly as she peered away from her hand and at the arrancar who was slipping into his fighting stance. Her eyes roved over his form again and then towards the apathetic face. "Don't see no sword."

His hands slowly went behind his back, a movement she didn't take lightly as she firmly gripped her hilt, and then drew out what looked like a small twig of silver. It was nothing more than a long arrowhead, with the bottom a square piece as if it was meant to fit into something else. He held it as one did a dagger; with his fingers curling over the square part and holding it out in front of his chest at a slight diagonal. Monotonously he spoke, "here is my sword."

Natsu gave a slow nod and then lightly gestured towards it with her katana. "Guess ya ain't ova compensatin' fo' nothin' wit tha'…. Bit small, no?"

"My speed makes up for- Why are you laughing?"

Natsu dumped her head slightly, just enough so that she could still watch through her fringe if he made any movements, and gave a small shrug as she breathed through her bought of laughter. Honestly, Natsu reasoned that it was just hysterics at this point; exhaustion and stress just wanting to be released from her body. Only once before had she worked this hard on anything for the Gotei 13, and that was when several shinigami in the med bay had been lethally injured. One shinigami in particular, she had just happened to know was in a relationship with another, and for some reason, she had felt a little more obligated to help take care of the squadron than normal. Not that Sekhmet, who had tried to use that moment as a way to create some sort of bridge of communication, did not make various attempts to spout out theories of why she was having such a response. Simply put, it didn't help their relationship at the time.

Well, at least, she would get one final laugh before whatever happened, happened. Her shoulders still shook some and she compressed her lips to swallow the last of the laughs which got stuck in her throat. She cleared out her throat and then lifted her head up straight to see the arrancar looking very confused with a twist of annoyance on his features from the frown on his lips.

"Don'cha worry 'bout tha'… I's a - a Shinigami thin' I guess," Natsu muttered out while repositioning her body when there were small twitches starting to go off in her arms.

The arrancar let out a heavy sigh with his own shake of his head. "I suppose all is lost on Shinigami like you."

"Now tha's not very nice."

"I was not aware that I had to be nice in a battle to the death." He retorted calmly and inched his foot forward while she slide just a bit more backwards. "My name is Nin and un-"

"Ya talkin' too much… I ain't good at listenin', specially ta men, so le's get ta fightin'."

Natsu gritted down her teeth as she barely switched her sword over to clash against the strike of his dagger. Her eyes narrowed down as he used extra force and ground her up against the wall until her own sword was against her chest. He backed up just a bit and then sent his foot to kick her straight through the walls and out into the dunes.

 _Fuckin'…. 'E's definitely 'spada level._

 _You also pissed him off._

 _… Shud. Up!_

Natsu slipped over her head through the air and did her best to slow down the approach to the ground by gathering up reishi a little bit at the time under her feet. Her sword went up again and she took another strong blow down from Nin which made her entire plan completely negligent. She went crashing into the dunes with the second blow down, so much so that she bounced a few times and was tossed away from the initial area of impact.

"Fuck." Natsu groaned out as she got up on her jittering limbs again and spat down on the sands where the red stood out clear like the arrancar's eyes had from all the white. "Sucks."

A hand reached under her, the limb just appearing below her nose before she could realize it, and she felt fingers gripping onto her neck. First it was nothing more than a slither, like the way a snake felt against skin as it traveled, and then came the powerful clench. She coughed up as she felt her throat being smashed down and crushed in a different direction that it was used to. It was made worse by the fact that she was being dragged up from the ground until she couldn't make out the compacted sand beneath her feet at all. Her legs fluttered around like dead bugs that didn't know they were dead yet and then fell limp knowing there was nothing that they could grip onto.

"Your victories against Tumula and Sombro were… Well, let's just say they weren't the strongest of the arrancar here." Nin worded out as his fingers grew a bit more like rods around her throat; digging in and plunging holes where his fingers curled around. "However, I will admit that you have power which is why I must kill you quickly."

Natsu was not at all proficient in hakuda, and it was not even part of the clearer thoughts that were going through her head as the air became hard to breath. At first all she could think about was the air and as she began to lose more oxygen and when her legs stopped swinging, her brain went into panic about it. But feeling the way that her lungs were burning, burning her from the inside out, her brain somehow found solace and locked into her memories. She could barely make out the small lessons on locks and holds that she had had gone through as a student and that she had failed repeatedly when she was up against Ikkaku. The bald man had kept his grip weaker than Nin was, but Ikkaku's grip was still apparent so that she had been forced into feeling that small amount of panic when her brain thought that her windpipe might be crushed; though intellectually she knew that she was safe in a classroom and Ikkaku wouldn't kill her. She had a whole swarm of those moments spiraling over and over like busy bees collecting pollen on a spring day.

Nin's hand pressed her head just a little bit more back, clearing out the entire hive with nothing but the queen there. Natsu's teeth gritted down and she brought her hand up straight in the air. She strained her neck backwards by her own doing until she almost felt like it was going to pop off from the rest of her, and twisted her body around quickly. Her arm came down in the same instant, with her elbow bending as she caught the arm in her armpit and wrenched what was remaining of her throat from the lock. Then she swung her sword with a hazardous upwards stroke, which she never got to finish as he broke free from her weak counter and jumped away.

 _At least you didn't let me go..._

"I see… So you do know how to fight with fists, as well." Nin stated as he shook off the tiny pat of her ramming arm. "I only observed you using kendo and kido and presumed that taijustu may have been your weak point."

Natsu clasped out her throat with the arm she had countered with and lifted herself up straight so that she could fill her lungs as much as possible. Her sword came up next, even as it trembled in her deoxygenated state. Her eyes met with Nin's and then she glared down as fiercely as she could baring out her teeth for him to see, while she coughed up and let out guttural growls in response to his statement.

"I did say that this was a fight to the death, did I not?" Nin questioned innocently as he head played into the sentiment with a faint tilt of the skull.

Natsu spit a few times before resigning herself into the fight, finally. She'd be here for the long haul it seemed. Her face smoothed out for just a moment before she lit it up with another smirk. "Y… Ya did. But I though' ya migh' go e- easy on a girl like me."

"There is no such thing as mercy."

"Obviously." Natsu finally cleared out the rest of her throat with another growl and then spit out the gunk that had been clogging it. The muscles were still straining as she spoke, making her voice grovel a bit under the pressure but it was like the dull throb from the re-made hole in her chest. "So one o' us gotta die at tha end?"

"I presume it will be you." Nin replied back as he fell into a full combat stance with the dagger out in front of him.

Natsu hefted the katana up into her two hands and settled as well. "Tha's pretty bad fo' me ain't it?… An' pretty cocky fo' ya."

"You call yourselves death gods and you claim us as the evil that you must rule over. I believe you were the first to make such presumptions."

Nasu gave a small shrug and the two of them moved at each other. Of course she would be dealing with a philosophical messenger from a demon king that hadn't even bothered to tell the arrancar the true nature of his plan to make himself into a god. Natsu parried his blows with the dagger with her sword in rapid succession. Then she dropped down and tried to get an upward slice which he countered with another kick to the sternum. She flew with it, dragging across the sky, before she went back down and they switched at the axis so that Nin was now in the air and she was on the ground.

"Got ya, didn't I?" Natsu called up to him.

Nin took a small second to press down on his arm and the four lines that had appeared instantly in the wake of the tiny cut. "You did though it is nothing to applaud at."

"Suppose not… But every bit coun's ya know?"

"There is no chance of you winning this fight, Shinigami. With this I will just increase my hierro." Nin spoke down from his high seat. "This is nothing more than a scratch which means that you already have a hard time fighting me, with just a sm-"

"Didn't I tel' ya, ya talk too much?" Natsu stuck a finger in her ear and cleaned it out under the shock of his expression which had narrowed down in annoyance. "Le's get a move on now."


	39. Chapter 38

Another swing, another duck, another stab, another slash, and on went the fight in some type of twisted dance; a dance where the two partners were constantly at each other's throats. It was a dance charged by aggression and violence, and, on top of swords and bodies intertwining and extracting from one another, it was characterized by a trait of possession; of the other person, of the space, and of technique. Natsu felt the heat around her eyes so much that they were narrowed down as far as she could leave them without blinding herself to Nin's movements. The slow drips of sweat down her face left behind tickles as the clear drops raced down one by one and fell into some abyss far away from her and from the explosion of fighting. The hard ceramic around her face hardened long ago around her features and she could only recognize when her jaw loosened, not when it was clenched up in its normal position.

Her chest felt compacted at all times by walls and walls of concrete from the inside out. The tension could only be relieved when it was ruptured by a hit to her chest or when she felt herself flying along the space. The sudden shift in the air around her, uncoiled the strangling sensation around her chest and throat so that she could finally open the lid of the air passages and she clawed for more and more. But as soon as her feet found solace in the ground again, she fell into the same pattern of not breathing but somehow getting air. The breaths that she took in felt so heavy in the cavity of her chest. They were not shallow, simmering on the top of her lungs, but instead stuck up by her throat, so that they created rocks for her to swallow. Whatever air she could get, fell deep into her chest and pushed out that black smog that was uniquely her own, but she couldn't cleanse them out from her lungs. All the air got stuck in her lungs and she forgot how to breathe properly and exhale so as to be able to take in new air.

It had turned out that Nin used something akin to a naginata. He had pulled out several sticks from under his robes and stuck them together to create a medium length staff. He kept the different sticks together with his reiatsu, similar to Renji's zanpakuto, and connected the small blade he had been using into a slot at the end of it. He was adept at using it in both defense and offense, and the distance between the two of them had become more widespread since he was accustomed to using long range attacks with the naginata. This did not bode well for Natsu who had to resort to kido for long-range and sword-fighting for anything that might have been in her reach. The constant switching between the two was brewing a storm in her body.

 _Fuck._

Natsu pulled back quickly from her attack with Sekhmet and felt the prod of the type of the blade against her chest just before she skidded backwards. She swamped her body weight over toward the other side and then pushed away with a jump to get further distance. Her legs stumbled underneath her as she landed and she quickly widened them out so as not to loose any balance and fall to the ground. In turn, a wave from the sudden stop washed up her body and she swayed until she could get a more firm grip on all the muscles and stand up straight.

"I find it strange," Nin called out as he slowly turned over towards Natsu . "Your reiatsu has not decreased although we have been fighting for so long."

Natsu smirked slightly and quickly mopped along her brow so that she could fling away some of the sweat that was pooling along her forehead and gathering along the rid of her eyebrows. It was a redundant move since more sweat would just replace what she had just tossed away. However it was better than it falling into her eyes which, though she had very heavy eyelids to protect her, was still a very uncomfortable salty and teary invasion into her eyes. Her tongue washed over what it could around her lips and she swallowed down a bit of the sweat, as if it would really keep her hydrated in her own heat that she was exuding.

"It has increased... Although it is only incremental and has barely made any difference to your state," Nin muttered as he steadied the naginata as if he was about to thrust.

Natsu gave a small shrug and pulled her sword back up in front of her, and re-fastened her grip along the hilt. Her eyes wavered to her own red tinted blade and she found herself attracted to a small drop that was going down the length of the blade. As it collected more and more, the drop bubbled up so it became more apparent to her eyes. The drop tripped down off her sword like the way a spider does when it creates a long string to hang from its web, - slow, determined, and beautiful - before it completely fell off the sword and into the white sands below it. She didn't bother following it that far, but she knew how the red would stand above the white; like an emboldened moment of rage in a normally tranquil scene.

The sword dropped just a bit more and instead her eyes followed that move until she could see that the tip of her sword was pointed as if she was going to ram it through Nin's chest. Her eyes fluttered back up to the arrancar then and let her smirk shudder into something a bit more devious as her lips opened up. "I's all tha blood… Ya really waken'd tha beast."

"Are you saying that your zanpakuto is an animal?"

"I'mma sayin' tha even I gotta a 'ard time controllin' 'er when she ge's like this."

Nin let out a small snort before he was sliding, preparing to flash over to her. He beat her in terms of speed and strength but she had gotten a bit better at reading him during the fight. "You speak as if you are really not one in the same."

"We ain't," Natsu responded as she brought the sword over her left shoulder just slightly so that she could slash down. "I really 'ate 'er."

Their blades met again and Nin sent his leg out to catch her by the waist. She ducked underneath it and thrust her sword along his remaining leg as she followed through and under the bridge that was created by his kick. As she got to standing up, she was about to make a slash towards his head which was now exposed but he had shunpoed away again. She followed after him and they clattered again; the wood of his naginata against the steel of her katana.

He pushed backwards and Natsu went stumbling back as he moved further away from her. When he settled he pulled the naginata close to him. "I suppose there is no other way for this battle to end…. I will have to release my powers."

"Go 'head." Natsu ground her feet a bit further into the sand so that she wouldn't get blown away by the increase in reiatsu that be hitting her. "Ain't tha firs' I'd be seein'."

Nin let out a long sigh and shook his head almost like when one caters to a child about an idealist notion. "I feel sorry for you Shinigami." He stabbed the naginata down until it was imbedded into his own foot. "Silbido, Dilatata."

Natsu hunkered down and cut through the running air that was doing its best to push her over and blind her at the same time. But with her sword splitting the force of the air stream to either side of her, she had only to grind her feet a little more into the ground to keep her balance as as she had a clean vision of Nin. The body of the man retained its shape for the most part. Initially, she actually wasn't able to tell the difference, and then she was able to make out the brown chest plate that covered him instead of the white robes. His head also was adorned by a helmet of the same rusted brown color with two antenna coming up from the top of it. They went up straight for the most part until at the very top of them they hooked a bit over towards the sides.

Along his torso, his hollow hole had grown a bit in size and had become a hardened white. Additionally he had gained two more pairs of arms giving him a total of six to use against her. More interesting were how all of his arms changed. Instead of holding onto the long ranged ability of the naginata or any other type of weapon, Nin's long arms had thorns which went curving away from his own body. They all pointed out into spikes at the very tip where the color seemed to fade into something almost translucent as they radiated in the sun.

Her ears perked at the sounds of sand sliding around which she could tell was coming from his direction but she had not seen him move. Her eyes widened at the long tail that rose over his own head to show off as long wings spread out so that she could see the full expanse of them as well. The tail itself looked like several jagged plates stacked on top of one another. The sides of it was so frayed away by the thorns that were protruding out that they did look individual although they moved together.

"This is my true form," Nin stated suddenly and Natsu fell back to the red eyes that were watching her reaction. "I am both protected by my own thorns as well as able to use them to kill my enemies."

"No wonda ya looked so un'proachable," Natsu huffed out and sent the man a smirk.

Nin shook his head again and his eyes furrowed down in that disappointed stare that he had adopted throughout the fight. He echoed it with a small touch at his lips as he turned the tips down in a frown. "Making jokes even to the end… You truly are a sorry sight."

"Ya wanna know wha' I think is a sorry sight." Natsu jerked her sword slightly and nudged her chin up to toss her own frown over to him. "Tha 'mount o' faith ya got in Aizen. Tha's jus' sad."

"Do not mock Aizen-sama. You may have been the ones betrayed but he has empowered us to this state," Nin cried out as he gestured rapidly at her. "You understand nothing."

Natsu paused slightly and then let out a long sigh. "All I see is a guy tha' 'as killed 'is own kind. No matta 'ow much ya argue it, Aizen is a Shinigami. An' all 'e wan's is ta -"

"Shut up you ingrate." Nin's voice came out almost as a hiss, instead of its normal monotone cadence, and Natsu jumped out of the way from the small spray of spikes that he sent over at her. "You, who knows nothing of Aizen's brilliance, cannot speak so casually about him."

 _Che… Aizen got every'ne twis'ed._ Natsu groaned to herself as she did another duck and roll to get away from the spray of spikes that he sent showering over at her.

She used her hand to leverage up and swirl along the dust so that she could lunge forward. But Nin had moved before she could even take into account that his speed had increased when he released his true form. He gripped tightly onto her sword, and her eyes narrowed down in the realization of what was coming since she was now an animal caught with its head inside a very quickly shutting trap. Her eyes took in the gleam of the spikes along his four arms as they looped in front of his torso. The smirk on her face was lost along with her dark chuckle, as she saw the projectiles shooting out across the small distance. Then all she could feel were the needles as they made a slow sink into her skin, something she was much too conscious of, and as they remained wedged down all over her own torso and arms.

She was dropped down towards the sand still on her feet. Her cough mangled as blood churned up from her body and spluttered out of her lips. She swayed under the force used from the pressure of needles sticking into her and the knock of the wind from her body from the close range attack. The longer she stayed up right, the faster the pain started to impregnate along her nervous system. It sent up nail-gratingly, long bolts along her body and she let gravity take her down to the sand with aggravating screams trolling out her lips.

Her eyes blearily took in the movements of his mouth as he was saying something down to her. She squinted to see if she could make anything out but she saw flashes of black. Fight as she did to keep her eyes open, hands tugged her down into the pits of the shadows where all she could see was black. The pain slowly slipped away from her body as she let herself fall with the small whispers of their hands.

They dragged her in so far until she was standing along another desert. The lion picked its head up slightly as it dragged its torso low to the ground. Its snout opened up and all Natsu could take in was the large canine fangs that dropped down or rose up in its mouth. The wrinkles along its snout grew deeper and deeper as the entire mouth began to vibrate with its roar. The muscles along its shoulders bunched up so much that they were straining and twitching under the skin and the fur. Natsu saw the hackles rise up and the slow lift as the front paws came up from the golden sands it was standing in. Its two hind legs whipped out straight from the coiled spring they were in as they pushed from the ground. Natsu fell back along with the tackle as the lion lunged into her.

With a splutter Natsu found herself coughing again. Her eyes blinked open to see the blue sky above her and the bright sun. The rays beamed down at her and even though she knew it to be fake, knew it to be the monster of Aizen, they still beckoned her up. The ghost that she always tried to keep away from her imagination, those long, thin fingers she remembered came along her forehead and swiped at the sweat dousing her forehead and her cheeks, and let out a slow murmur to get her to relax. Then along came the smell of cinnamon to fill the hollow space of her lungs, and the small flutter of long, sunny blonde locks washed out the sun's fake rays and replaced them with the golden shimmer of real heat. Those same thin fingers moved until they ground against her shoulders and she felt the small lift, until she was finding herself sitting up in the desert of white sands. Her head wavered around and took in the plains of white sheets. The wash of her own sweat waking her up from the sinking nap along her body, until she was really blinking as she took in everything about the area.

Her eyes fell down onto Nin who had turned around in the spot. He had walked away from her apparently, and she let a smirk came along her face. Shows him that he shouldn't underestimate her as an opponent. Strength only returned when she gripped onto the hilt of her sword and she was dragging it close to her again. The tip edged down into the sand until it couldn't go down any more with the bulk of the sand and she propelled herself up until she was standing.

Her steps fumbled backwards slightly and she felt drunk as she pulled the sword up, which toppled her over to the right from the weight. Her legs slipped out a bit wider and she settled down into her own weight. The sword glinted with the sun and she closed her eyes slightly at the flash that came at her. When she opened her eyes again, she was stood before her opponent with the sword raised up steady and the tip ready to gauge into him, with the black steam coming off her like she was burning ember at its last remnants.

 _'Course I 'ad ta see ya stupid face._

 _It was only a memory of that time, moron._

 _Ya can't call me moron, boke._

"Wha'? Ya think I was dead?" Natsu ground out as she found Nin stepped up close to her again. At the very least he hadn't released his form yet, which she had to praise herself for. She still had his hackles raised which meant that she didn't completely disappoint him as his 'enemy'. "Sorry… I's tha sun, ya see. Can't sleep when i's so sunny."

"Then I will make sure you go into eternal sleep so you are not disturbed again."

"Le's try tha' then."

They flurried away into clashes and spiting at one another. It was a sloppy fight, compared to the elegance that it had once had. Spikes still protruded out from her from the blitz that she survived through and she only felt more fly into her at times or, at the least, cut along the skin when she could deftly avoid them. Her sword was coming down heavily and barely scratching against him at times. At one point she almost felt the hilt slip from her grip so she held so dearly to the monster of the sword until her knuckles were white and blood dripped down from her own torn palms.

"Why are you not dead yet?"

"'Cause." Natsu stuck out her tongue and flipped away from him as she stuck her hand out. "Hadou 54: Haien."

Nin spluttered and thrashed at the spiritual energy before he got rid of all the remnants. She could make out the deep pits of skin that it had been taken from his arms, which told her that he was also getting down to his own limits as much as she was.

His arm swung up and sent another spray as she did another tumble roll to get away from them all. He followed after her with more and more needles as she raced around. Every now and again she swiped along the ground using flips and tumbles to get around the tricks that he was trying to catch her with. Finally, she skidded to the side, and using a shunpo dragged a long slash straight over his arm cutting it away from his body and leaving him with just five.

His tail raised up and her eyes widened. In the shock, her knees locked up which allowed her to only watch as the tail came down towards her. The very thorny tips sucked into her stomach. She was sent around in a few fast circles as the spikes from the plated tail sunk deeper into her. Her arm came around and she found her hand planting on his tail as she tried to get out of it but the speed of the air against her back and the claws imbedded in her was too much. Blood gushed out as she was finally thrown off and landed skidding along her back away from him.

"Fuck," Natsu spat out as her hand came along her stomach. It was weird to feel the skin as if she didn't recognize it. She could barely tell what was left from the deep holes that cratered her skin now. The slick, blood coat slipped through her fingers more thoroughly than any soap. "Fuck."

"I really am going to kill you now Shinigami." Nin stated.

Her head tilted up slightly as she watch as he prowled up to her. It was nothing like the lion that she was used to watching. It held none of the width that came from the bunching in the shoulder blades. None of the anger in the saliva dripping canines. It missed the vibrations as the growl came up along the throat and came out in the enlarging mouth which was reaching its peak. It dwindling in the intensity of the eyes that kept the prey in place, and couldn't coil back in that tense way that knew the launch was coming. There was none of the anticipation that death was actually coming at her. None of the fear that raked up through her pulse and had kept her up against the only rock in the entire desert of the golden sands. She couldn't even shiver. She didn't want to huddle up and try to make herself smaller like a cub to the fierce lioness. She didn't even want to become the rock as the heat from the lion's mouth came just that much closer to her jugular.

Instead she found herself inexplicably calm as she took in the stealthy walk of her opponent coming closer to her. She lifted herself up and he crept up just that much faster to try and prevent her from getting prepared before he could launch his attack. As her sword came up in her hands she was in another long stretch of dueling with him. The heat was still streaming around her and pushing out furiously from her own pours as they maintained the dance. Even her reiryoku was flaring up at the unwanted pain along her chest and stomach that she was used to.

Yet her heart stayed calm within its beating confines and her lungs could drag in air like it was sweet to the taste. Her brain slanted over to cover up every single other thought other than getting, pushing, and tearing her way through the entirety of the fight. Her essence was pulsing out the black as much as it was breathing it back in, and she swirled in those endless pits of fighting and living in the same moment. _'Ow 'Kaku feels, maybe?_

 _Did you just get it now, moron?_

 _… Shudup I ain't like ya._

There was no bloodlust to continue fighting. She didn't feel energized by the thought of getting Nin onto his back to bleed out. There was no craving to see the white painted in red. She only wanted to finish. She wanted to burn off her limbs until they were gone and she wanted to stop her own bleeding. She'd start by filling up all the holes in her body and then move on to getting the blood stopped. Finally she'd fall into a long sleep that no one would wake her up from so that all the pain from her reiryoku would go away and stop flaring up like it was.

"I finally figur'd it out," Natsu panted out as they came away from one another. Nin looked at her with a withering glare as the question was there without his mouth moving. "Why Aizen sent ya to me."

"To kill you, shinigami. That was obvious."

Natsu shook her head slightly and drew up a bit feeling a sad frown crossing her lips for the first time. "I's the otha way 'round."

"What?" He spat out along with some of the dribbling blood.

"'Fore Aizen left Soul Society 'e said 'e wanted ta see ma finished product," Natsu proclaimed as she steadied out a hand out in front of her. "I suppose 'e wasn't enter'ained 'nough by ma otha figh's an' 'e wanted ta see tha result I got to afta so many months."

Nin ground his teeth and barred out the pink-stained white for her to see. "That's a ridiculous notion. Aizen-sama would never do such a thing."

 _Kinda like Hinamori, ain't 'e?_

 _You mean pathetic?_

 _… Ya know. I's funny tha's tha firs' thin' we're 'greein' on._

"We been fightin' so much tha' i's 'ard ta 'ave felt it, but now's is quiet so go 'head." Natsu waited patiently as the look of confusion went along Nin's face and then was replaced with comprehension. "Ya feel 'em don't ya? Some caps 'ave come an' there jus' ain't no way tha' Las Noches gonna be standin'… Ya 'spada are losin'."

"It just means that Aizen-sama will be going to -"

"'xactly." Natsu waved her hand about before fixing the palm in front of her again. "E's gonna go ta Karakura Town an' start tha war. An' you'll be left 'ere."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Nin charged as he stood up straighter. "What does that have to do with your previous statement at all?"

"Jus' means I gotta finish this 'fore 'e goes an' dies. 'Cause we're winnin' tha war."

"Wha—"

"Hadou 73: Soren Sokatsui." Natsu pushed out the kido.

Nin took the hit straight on but as the mist cleared away from him only two arms looked very defeated as they withered down and sunk closer towards his torso. "Was that it?"

"No." Natsu pushed the katana into her sheath and she then put both hands in front of her until they formed a triangle with the left finger tips overlapping the right ones as she pushed her arms as far as she could away from her body. "I's jus' startin' 'cause tha' was jus' a distraction."

Through the triangular frame that she had created, Natsu saw the way that his tail suddenly dropped down. His head swiveled around frantically and she made out the way that he tried to pick it up like one would try to lift an arm. When unable to do that, he tried to tug at it with his hand. His body flexed about as he was dragging his long, prickly tail along the ground, and the muscles in his arm popped out and then in the other one as it joined the fray to try and get some movement.

Unable to get it to shift but only a slight bit, his head jerked back around. "What did you do?"

"I sealed it," Natsu stated out steadily. "When ya tail got ta ma stomach I placed a seal on it… Copied tha idea fro' anotha zanpakuto 'bility. Don't go spreadin'… 'Zuru wouldn't be too 'appy if 'e knew I took 'is powers."

"Wha-"

"I don't got much time ta 'xplain ever'thin' ta ya, sorry," Natsu paraded through once again as she saw the red box surrounding him. "I ain't got this complete yet."

Unlike the one on the Sokyoku Hill this was was considerably smaller; similar to the one she used during her fight with Giel. She had placed the seals down along the sand but she had only planned to really use it as a last resort. She and Tessai hadn't fully developed out the impact or the strength of the red box but they had gotten much closer to help her flesh out part of the ability.

Nin looked around a bit frantically as he took in the red walls that were by his sides. "What is this?"

"Ya can't go movin' so I 'ad ta do tha' ta ya tail…. Othawise I might do this incorrectly." Natsu spread her hands and placed the left down by her knees as she squatted down and then the right arm up to create a diagonal line in the air. "Wall of penance and vengeance alike. History under the sun, and remorse under the moon. Shadows of anger and mocking sway to strands. Kai."

The box closed in slightly and she made out Nin's shout before she saw the black smog started to pile in from the corners and move in towards the center. Her eyes narrowed down in her focus as she pinned onto his reiryoku pattern and the black smog swirled out so much until it was overlapping as it came along the red walls. The waves continued to go in and out of the shores of the red walls and the screams grew just that much stronger but she pushed out what she could.

It could have been forever but she remained in place even as she felt the walls of her own skin about to split along the seams as the heat bubbled over in her own veins. The shouts from Nin turned into grunts and then finally quieted out into an eerie silence. It was a true silence that she hadn't heard since the sun burnt out and the echo in her subconscious said that everything was gone even as she busied herself with watching the door every day though the wood stayed exactly where it was; every day and every night. She remained in her spot in this desert regardless, facing the red and black box, and strengthened up her arms even under the quakes and what she was sure was everything snapping beneath her skin. Then finally as the black smog suctioned in and then was bursting up against the red walls in a giant explosion.

Her feet flew out from under her and she ducked down cuddling the sand. The black smoke tumbled out in furious, tsunami waves. It wasn't like the heat of the Kikio but she could feel the wafts of it as it settled around like the air in pressure made from snapping bedsheets. She twisted her head up tentatively, regardless, and saw the thin trails of black smudging into gray right by her face. Her body quivered as she got back to her feet with the stretches of graying black swerving to move around the new form.

She walked up tentatively towards where the clouds of black were giving way to the stream that was rushing away from it. She only made it as far as possible to make out the seams that had grown along his legs and the voids of black that were tumbling out of them. She had expected it look a bit more like the garganta, but she would accept the black that was coming out from his own body; burned from the inside out.


	40. Chapter 39

Natsu let out a magnificent grumble as she wriggled around in the sand, as fast as she possible could through the throbbing that had taken over her body. She had placed her medical bag beneath her head and crossed her legs at the ankles. Thankfully she hadn't crossed her arms over her torso, or she might have been confused for a mummy to a passer by. But quickly her legs fell open again because they were just too heavy to keep propped against one another, and the force necessary to even stay awake was slowly leaving her. She splayed out like a starfish open to any and all attacks that may have fallen from around her. A horrendous bought of dry but sodden laughter fell from her lips as she felt the thorns jumbled in her movements, knowing that, instead, it looked like she was staked to the ground in submission to death.

If only now she could actually get some sleep, she would be able to pass over this hard tide much easier. Her eyes slipped closed slightly at the drumming of her heartbeat and that horrendous flare from her reiryoku. She could practically imagine that had her reiryoku been a living thing it would be tiny animals chomping at whatever they could eat. Those tiny mouths trying to taper their own hunger by feasting on what her body produced. She didn't have the strength to move and fix the problem, not that she would have been able to at this point. Her reiryoku had finally spluttered and frayed at the ends from having been in a constant flow and then urged to its utmost heights by the demanding of her wanting opponents. It was the kind of problem that she would actually have to ride out this time around. No amount of punches - soft or hard - would save her this trip.

Her chin tipped just a bit more up to the fake sun and her pours guzzled the heat that was overflowing from the wells of her skin. The porous saran wrap around her body tipped out more sweat which swamped her entire body, overflowing at every single exit that it could find; like hoards of people exiting a burning building. The pressure from her stomach to her head, pulsed around her almost as if she was on a vibrating bed but not nearly so comfortable. Finally she dropped off into the blackness of her own vision where no lion was before her to awaken the spark in her heart again.

 _Sekh?_

 _Yes?_

 _… Do tha' ramblin' ya good at._

 _Stay awake._

 _Tha' it?... Ya usually betta at this._

 _You don't like my stories anymore._

 _Jus' tell one._

* * *

 _Natsu picked her head up from the desk or at least she thought she had. Her head banged up against the under side of her desk instead. Her arms unfurled as she placed a hand on top of her head and smoothed over the blaring spot that was now aching from abruptly meeting the hard, solid plank of wood. As her hand traversed a bit further down she came upon the undercut of her hairstyle and paused several times as her fingers prickled from the shaved hairs there. Her brows furrowed in annoyance at the receding pain as she traced out the prowling lion she had designed into the fabric of her buzzcut hairs._ _She raked her fingers up until she felt the high ponytail that she had kept the longer hairs up in. Her fingers choked the hairs as she moved all the way down until she was trailing away from the ponytail. Then she made sure that the fringe, which was cut to the half way point of her forehead to sit way above her eye, was still flat and in place._

 _Slowly she crawled out from under the desk and made a bleary sweep over the hallway which had people running about frantically. It wasn't too much of an odd sight for the fourth division, and she barely felt alerted as the nurses were jumbling out orders that they were supposed to be fulfilling. Natsu scratched at her eyes and then used the desk to hoist herself up from the floor and planted her two hands down on top of the sturdy wood so that she could lean all of her weight there. She made a slow shake of each of her feet to get the blood moving again. Sleeping under the desk was like sleeping in a crib, but since she was so tall her knees were always bent up and she often lost circulation in her calves and feet from the way she positioned herself._

 _"Kotomi we need you to lead team 40 out to the district 32. Specific area code 326 and 327," Yasochika chewed out as he then thrust the clipboard out at her slowly blinking eyes. "You're going to be leading a team of newbies out to pick up some straggling patients. It's not dire-"_

 _"Yeah, yeah." Natsu waved off and began to make her around the desk to go over the entrance. "Ya 'lways talkin' too much."_

 _She stuffed literal fingers into her ears as she ignored the shouts from her third seat as she gloomily made a stride over towards where her team was waiting for her; or at least, they should have been. She had only gotten in a few hours of sleep; averaging out a dismal six hours in the period of forty-eight hours due to her punishment._ _All she had done was to fall asleep and miss one single meeting. He had gone completely insane and had given her that ridiculous punishment for the past two days. It wasn't even an important meeting; just a general, inventory and scheduling meeting. But, "for her negligence", she had been put on the graveyard shift and then had the morning shift because of the blonde bastard third seat that had never given her a single worry. He was always punishing her that way and she was very close to actually going and complaining to Unohana about it because there was no way anyone could function doing that two days straight._

 _She stuffed her hands into her sleeves and drew out her medical bag and then moved it onto her back before she got up to the entrance. She then drew out the communicator and stuffed it into her ear so that she could hear all the reports going through which this time she actually bothered to listen to. It was much easier than hearing the preach of her third seat or watch the glare in his glasses as his ego pulled its weight in the conversation. From t_ _he device she quickly got caught up to the situation that there had been a breach of Gillian in the area. Division six had been sent out to eradicate the issue but the team had been overpowered and there were serious injuries which were spread over several locations. Her location apparently had been abandoned by the Gillian but had left seven injured,_ _of about a level four or five,_ _in its wake_

 _"Ever'one 'ere?" Natsu chimed to the group of newbies once she got to the front._

 _The main triage groups had already headed off as they were heading up to the front lines and needed to go first. So it was just the eight of her team, and a few others that were watching the proceedings, which were left in the courtyard since they weren't so pressed for time. She scratched at her head and then stuffed her hands into her pockets as she watched all the members of her team jump up real quick. The looks on their faces grew increasingly dismal and she saw a few of them leaning over towards one another as they whispered amongst one another._

 _"Well?" She asked again and saw a few of them jump apart. She raised an eyebrow and nailed down on the two that were still whispering between one another with her eyes. "Ever'one ready?"_

 _The two shinigami pulled apart instantly and gave each other nothing but side glances before they nodded. She moved her vision around to the other members to see them readjusting their bags and shuffling their feet. She let out a sigh and then made a slumbering turn and began to walk. Her ears perked at the sound of their feet jostling after her and the clattering of their bags. The whispers started up again but she was able to disappear into a soft tune that she was humming._

 _"Excuse me?" A voice called out towards her left side._

 _She peered slightly over to the girl that was walking next to her. Natsu sharpened her eyes just slightly as she saw the confident grin on the girl's face and the heightened chest which was propped up. The girl had a sturdy walk for having graduated the academy recently, Natsu mused, as she picked up on the fact that the girl's lips were moving about. The grin the recent grad wore fell slightly as Natsu only looked at her and made no response to the question that she hadn't heard and couldn't even pretend to have attempted to listen to._

 _"Repeat tha'?" Natsu put out suddenly and the girl's jaw dropped in shock since a moment had passed and silence was the only thing between them. "I wasn't listenin'… Got distracted."_

 _"A… Are we going to be okay?" Natsu heard behind her along with "she can't possible be our senior" and "how is she a seated member?" Natsu only let a smirk come across her face ignoring the blind comments made in something just above a whisper. She kept her vision on the girl who looked completely flabbergasted at having been ignored and so openly too. Natsu quirked her eyebrow again and then cocked her head to prompt the girl to ask her question again._

 _"I… I just asked where we were going," the girl choked out in a half delirious whisper, half squawk of terror at the negligent behavior, as her hands waved uselessly in front of her. "They didn't inform us, you see."_

 _"326 an' 327…. If ya wanna 'ead up 'fore me tha's fine. But I ain't coverin' fo' any of yer mistakes if ya do tha'."_

 _The girl pulled back immediately with a twisted face and the fury of a seething kitten and merged back into the group that was nervously whispering. Natsu had, of course, seen that type of behavior before. It was always done by those unseated members that thought they could get promoted by making themselves look better than her. She did, after all, have a bit of a reputation for being the worst of the seated members. Most of the time she liked watching their faces when she was handed over cases from Unohana and being able to taunt them up into an embarrassed rage._

 _Getting the girl to fall back was equally pleasing in its own way, though. This way she wouldn't have to worry about ego actually getting in the way of the work that they would be having to do. It also allowed Natsu to act like a leader while not doing much at all except intimidating them with her amazing observation tactics; she was reading through someone and setting them on edge while at the same time getting them not to do something stupid. No one wanted to get the blame placed on them, particularly not newbies who liked to think themselves invincible to everything; even death and, more importantly, their patients dying._

 _Her eyes shifted over towards the quietest of the group that was moving along her side as they were making an easy shunpo over the distance. There was nothing much impressive about him with a normal shihakusho adorning his slender frame. He had a strong set of shoulders and rigid back, which when compared to her was very easy to do. It was the earnest set in his mouth and the perpetual frown he seemed to carry. His blonde eyebrows were also drawn in a worried set, and there was a narrowness in his blue eyes that she could make out._ _Her eyes traced over his short blonde hair, which had a blonde fringe that was cut in the direction of his right eye but only made it about three quarters of the way down his forehead. Then his blue eyes were shooting over to her and they held eye contact for a moment. He blinked several times as he vaulted easily over the branches that they were going over and then she was actually recognizing him._

 _Kira Izuru had transferred into the fourth division from the fifth. It had been the only interesting move in the past months that she had noted from the slimy captain. She had paid attention to Kira for that reason. Only for that reason. She couldn't see what had made Aizen take the blonde in from the academy, although Kira had good grades and was rather balanced in all areas from theory to kido. But since they had worked together a few times, the blonde had remained sullenly silent around her and she was always forgetting about him. He was almost too woeful to actually deal with, and so she wasn't sure why Aizen had picked him from the start. She could, however, kind of understand why the snake had transfered him after several years if Kira's personality was anything to go by._

 _"Is there something wrong Kotomi-san?" Kira questioned._

 _She blinked back to the present as she moved back to watching the look in his blue eyes. She found herself smirking slightly at the obvious disinterest he had in her. For being so sullen, he seemed to also have a huge amount of pride, and there was a confidence in his abilities. He had easily addressed her even with her tenure, and she gave him an amused glance which had him growing worried the longer she looked at him._ _"Kotomi-san?"_

 _"Ya Kira, righ'?"_ _She mimicked back seeing the small flash in his eyes about how he hadn't been remembered at all. "Yeah… Though' ya looked bit familiar. Worked wit' ya before, 'aven't I?"_

 _Kira paused slightly as he moved back to stare at the trees they were going through. There was a small twitch in his jaw which had her smirking a bit more. She moved to look ahead so that he wouldn't get rid of all his facial expressions when he realized that she was observing him._ _His words came out slowly. "Yes… We've worked together several times."_

 _"Great… So I'mma gonna 'ave ya do me a favor." Natsu prodded and she made out the twitch in his blue eyes as he flickered between her and the scenery. Of course, confident ones didn't think they have to do favors. "I'mma gonna 'ave ya shut ever'one up fo' me… Gettin' a real bad 'eadache from all tha talkin' tha's goin' on. Ain't nice of em ta talk ta me like tha' ya see."_

 _The silence was immediate around the group and Natsu sunk her expressions down into her bland look as she peered over her shoulder to see the nervous twitches from the people behind her. They were looking from one to another and then continued to charge forward with their heads now facing downward to avoid her quick glance. She stuck her tongue out silently, even though she knew that they wouldn't see it. But it was a mistake since all she got was a taste of the cloth on her shoulder and she immediately scrunched up her facial features and turned back to the front. Another quick glance over at Kira told her that he was completely unprepared and bemused about what had just happened as he was glancing around at all the members. She only flashed him a smirk and then they were moving forward._

 _The area that they were heading toward grew a bit thicker and then they were spreading out as they were collecting up all the injured bodies that had been blown everywhere. Two of her members got to clearing out a small space under all the trees as they prepared the area to lay down the injured sixth division members. She herself took note of all the injuries as one Shinigami after the other was brought towards the area._ _She stuffed her hands into her pockets as she peered over as the seven newbies settled over one patient each and observed. Her eyes flickered rapidly as she took notes on the progress that was going on. Her team chattered politely to one another as they tried to figure out amongst themselves how to solve the problems. There were two patients that were in more critical conditions and she watched at her group members switched out to those more proficient in kaido, and nodded to herself. They were doing everything to a 'T', if not just a bit too much._

 _Her eyes narrowed slightly and she moved slowly as she shifted over to watch the shadows that were crawling along the trees. She darted around to see if she could make out anything but there was just a small flicker of something different. The breeze turned stale and she breathed out among the new heaviness as her head slowly tilted down. She moved her body half away from the trees she had been looking into and tossed around to see that none of the other members had felt anything._

 _"H- Hey!"_

 _Her eyes flickered over toward the shouting sixth division member that was raising his arm out toward her, mouth opened wide as if more words would be able to come out, and then everything fell into a long flurry. She pitched around to see the hollow jamming its long claws out for her. Its teeth snagged in deeply to her right side. Her left arm swung around to see if it would be possible to get the creature to budge, but she was too late, and the jaw tore even deeper into her side; digging straight through her arm, snapping it in a clean two or three, and into her lungs. Her teeth clenched down and she felt the air surrounding her as she turned into a missile launched at the trees away from the group._

 _It took a long moment before her head started working again. There was a scream that seemed to jar her awake_ _from the daze_ _more than the pain that was rapidly spreading around her side and she was rebounding quickly toward where the group was. Her shunpo crossed the distance and then she was jumping around quickly as she was settling on collecting as many of her people away from the crash site._

 _"Yo," Natsu stated as she collected Kira into her grasp from where he had been whipped out to the side by a wicked snatch at his arm. From quick assessment, she could tell that he too had his arm snapped in a clean two but she continued on, "need ya to get a stock pile o' tha bodies."_

 _"K- Kotomi-san?"_

 _"Jus' do it Kira." Natsu gritted down as her side flared up from the awkward angle of moving about among the trees and helping position the young blonde. "Ya were par' o' division five so ya got tha most 'xperience of tha lot 'ere…. Otha' than me."_

 _She pushed off from a tree and flounced over the top of the hollows that had gathered with the momentum that the first had brought with it. Kira was still safely tucked under her arm and he yelped as they flipped together; his useful arm holding as tightly to her bicep as it could manage. She didn't release him until they had both settled onto the ground. He stumbled away instantly upon not having her weight on him and began to get the rest of the quaking newbies that weren't sure what to do. Natsu's mind thrummed as she quietly praised his quick attention to her orders as she watched how the remaining squad members saw what Kira was doing and were following his directions; both given and motioned. They did their best even with their weakened and quivering hands, and Kira was guiding them like the old hand that he was to collect those injured and to safely move out of harms way._

 _She staggered over towards the most injured and dragged them up. One injured on each shoulder and her seals on each of them, she moved away from the site, following after Kira, with the hollows crashing down behind the group as they moved as quick as they could with their added weight. There were six hollows that trailed after them; intel she gathered as she was trying to push just a bit faster in her feeble shunpo. The injury had punctured her lung so everything was already getting very spotty as she was moving and the air was getting harder to get to her lungs._

 _"Mellowed tones and crashed bones. Life blood and conjure. 2 cataracts a place. Sealed, unsealed, and flow… Kai," she whispered and then thrust the bodies off her shoulders._

 _Kira let out another yelp as he saw the rough treatment of patients; most definitely against the code of conduct for those in the fourth division. However, he was distracted as his hands quivered at the red sheen that had come over them. She was too busy tilting over to get more air into her lungs from over exerting herself on the flash step and the weight to offer any advice to the shaken shinigami that had unconsciously become her second-in-command._ _The blood was quickly falling down from her cheeks and she felt the urge to topple over as the adrenaline, which had been the one thing keeping her going, was fading away. Kira's look over her shoulder at the distant, but slowly encroaching, hollows had her looking as well to see how they were clobbering through all the trees to get to the group of them._

 _"K- Kotomi-"_

 _"Shudup Kira," Natsu murmured as she turned around to face the hoards that were gaining with every single pound against the earth. She snuck a smirk over her face before tossing a glance over her shoulder at the nervous blonde whose blue eyes grew larger. "Sucks but ya ain't gotta do a thin'… But stay there."_

 _She thrust both hands out as she opened up her mouth again after collecting a deep breath which surged with pain in her chest. "Bakudou 63: Sajo Sabaku." As the wires left her finger tips and caught onto the hollows, like how fish get funneled into nets, she used the distraction to set up another defensive kido. "Deep harvests and growing ferns. Into the earth in the hush of life. Rising trees and flowers. Indentured to the mother, created only in purity. Bakudou 66: Earth's Dome Prison."_

 _A dark brown kido came out from the ground in front of her. Her arms went falling down as she panted against the use of the two high level kido and her own technique. Though she couldn't see it, she knew the effects of the bakudo spell already, since she had done it several times before. Just in front of the earth wall, vines would stretch out to any of the reiatsu sources that it sensed in the area. They were thick like tree trunks and they were very hard to break through so long as the user maintained control over the reiatsu that was pumped into the kido._

 _"Gives us a bit o' time," Natsu suggested as she turned over to the awestruck Kira who was unblinking as his eyes were flickering from the wall to her. "Wha? Can't do tha'?"_

 _"H—How are you only a twentieth seat?" Kira whispered out as they were moving to help arrange all the bodies again._

 _The rest of the team was scrambling around and most were skittering to other sides of her as they did their best to help out. The usage of her own technique had forced her to burn through one of the seals and they were probably sensing the underlying amount of reiatsu that had been stored away in her body. It wasn't like she had an amazing amount that she exuded. It was just the increase that they were really reacting to, Natsu assumed. Newbies were jittery to everything and anything that seemed to get stronger in front of them would set their senses on edge._

 _It also didn't help that her technique was probably making them nervous because they weren't sure what was happening. As a few approached the shinigami she was using it on, s_ _he waved them away from them. Even though they were the most heavily injured in the group, she moved them herself regardless of the strain on her physique. She had to do it anyway since she had no clue about what would happen if another touched it just yet._

 _"Kotomi-san, please you're injured." Kira came at her again but she waved him off as she went to face the wall again which was slowly cracking. "I've contacted the re-"_

 _"I'll get rid o' em don't worry."_

 _"What? You can't be serious Kotomi-san. You're injur-"_

 _"Boke." Natsu jeered as she patted down onto his shoulder heavily and forced him to turn his eyes up to the deadpan look on her face. "I don't listen ta people well so ya keep talkin' an' it dis'pears quickly, ya know."_

 _She pushed him behind her again as she reverted her attention back to the wall. There was a deep incision through the middle of the kido wall now and she let out a horrible long sigh as she did a mental check over her body. Her sleep had gotten disturbed and she just wasn't in a good mood. The pain in her reiryoku was getting a bit too much too quickly and it was flaring as she hunched over to try and squeeze at it, as if would really work. Her lung had practically collapsed and she was barely breathing through her right side, forcing her left lung to overcompensate. The vision in her eyes was getting spotty the longer that she was standing, and her legs were tensed to try and steady her waving body._

 _Her teeth gritted down slightly as she was half tempted to listen to Kira. The second loud crack through the bakudo forced her to reconsider. There was no way with the current situation that anyone would be able to make it back in time to their section, whether it was another healing unit or a fighting unit. Honestly, though, there would be no fighting units sent out this way given that the situation was already supposed to be resolved and Gotei had a horrible return policy. It was either another kido to wipe out all the hollows and pass out or do nothing and risk too much. Sekhmet went off in her head for the amount of compassion that she was showing, but Natsu blared the jazz in her head until everything was drowned out but the sound of trumpets._

 _"Ain't fuckin' compassion," Natsu drawled out as she lifted both hands again and planted her feet down. "I's jus' tha people ain't 'llowed ta die on me…. Toda sucks so 'ard. - Howling monkeys and jeering of the beasts huddled in the forest. Set marks and tiger pride. Preying. Fasting. Scorching under the winds that gust and terrorize. Whirlwinds easy and blowing turbulence. Deadened enemies before me, scratched by the winds' cheering. Hadou 69: Clattering winds of the King's dance."_

 _Natsu fell back onto her bottom as she was pushed straight into Kira from the large infusion of her kido. She watched as the winds swept through her bakudo shields. It left large craters and trenches in its wake as it tore through the space like raging scythes going through the fields at such a rapid pace that even the wind was cut by the blades. The hollows attempted to move backwards falling over one another as they pushed through once they had seen the first getting torn apart. They were cut into small pieces soon enough along with the remnants of trees that had been caught in her radius. The winds continued so far back until there was a long stretch of empty before them and blown up ground._

 _Natsu fell back from the sight as Kira pressed his fingertips into her shoulders more firmly. She dodged around the feeling of the hand as she forced herself to lean into supposedly safe person behind her. Her head tipped without her really knowing and she made out the receding of his quick heart rate and she could make out the warmth of the soft torso. Her eyes tipped shut slightly and she dumped more firmly feeling the jerk of his body ripple through her._

 _Her eyes picked back up and she gave him a smirk as he turned worried blue eyes to look over her. Everything began swarming slightly and she bucked up slightly as she began to hack out as much black smoke as she could. Kira's hands immediately came along her back and he was tipping her over to the side so that he could make out what was happening. There was an urgency in the movements as she pushed over along the ground beneath._

 _"Koto…" His words trailed off as her ears tried to pick up on what he was saying but just his mouth was moving. There was a desperate flash in his eyes tore around her body and she made out the pressure along her side with the late recognition that everything was drenched in her blood. "Don't… I… Do?"_

 _She smirked slightly and tilted her head so that she was looking up at the waving trees above her. She spluttered slightly and she made out the dribble that was coating her lips, before she was calling to her zanpakuto. The woman responded back with a soothing drabble about how she would live._

 _Kotomi brought her eyes back over to the side of Kira's head which had turned away, probably to shout out something. He was blocking her view of her patients but when she focused enough she found the seals snapping and dissolving at her thought. It brought his vision back to her and the wide, blue eyes stared down as he pushed down a bit more on her side. Kira must have thought that it was a sign that she was slipping since he seemed to have gathered the red film around the patients had to do with her. He settled down slightly when they were looking at one another and she flashed him another smirk which spread into a disastrous grin. Smart boys were dangerous ones._

 _"Don'cha worry 'Zuru… Ain't nothin' gonna 'appen," she whispered out as she patted down on his arm with a flutter of the hand closest to him. His mouth opened slightly and then shut before he gave a firm nod, though she wasn't sure that he had actually heard at all._

* * *

 _Natsu woke once again by banging her head on the bottom side of her desk. Instead of being calmer, she toppled out from the space and began whining this time as she cradled the bump she had created. Since the wreck that had been the triage a week ago, Unohana had given her more time off which she had spent getting much deserved sleep to heal the injury as well as get her back to her normal state._ _However, that sleep had to get interrupted by the endless stream of paperwork that Unohana was shoving her way to complete in the down time. It was all the paperwork she had refused to do prior so it was just coming back to bite her as Unohana's petty revenge for not being to meet deadlines. At least, the naughty third seat had gotten a bit chastised for his punishments so in the future she knew she would be better prepared, meaning better rested, if any emergency happened like that again._

 _She blinked several times as she took in the sandals that were right by her face and the white socks, before trailing up along the black. Izuru's curiously bemused glance was staring down at her as he took in her frame on the ground. He had his arm in a sling from the broken bone that had been set after all the triage work, which was the only change other than the more lively expression on his face. He now adorned something more brightened than his normal, somber appearance. He still seemed to carry something woeful around him with the way that his eyebrows naturally fell, which was usually countered by that tiny smile._

 _"Kotomi-san?" He twitched his hand again as he held it out for her to take. "You really shouldn't be sleeping under your desk… Are you going to take my hand?"_

 _Natsu looked at it for a moment longer and then slipped her hand into it and the man helped her up from the ground. She slipped away again and stuffed her hands into her pockets as she looked at him. She had never noticed it before, not that there were too many times that they had interacted, but they were pretty much the same height if she ever bothered to stand up with her normal posture._

 _"Koto—"_

 _"Cut tha' out," Natsu proclaimed immediately and moved around so that she could travel around the other side of the desk and go off down the hallway. "I ain't very formal so call me somethin' else, 'Zuru."_

 _"Aren't you going to finis—" Izuru paused his words as she tilted her head over to look at him and raised an eyebrow. Certainly she had a few piles of paperwork left to do but they'd get done later. He let out a long sigh and then moved after her. "Never mind… Senpai."_

 _"Wha? Why ya gotta give me a name like tha'? - Somethin' mo' casual." Natsu frowned slightly at the title. She then grimaced at the idea of more people catching onto the idea and she stuck out her tongue in disgust at the concept of being anyone's superior._

 _Izuru only shook his head as they walked down the hall. "I don't feel comfortable doing that."_

 _"I's jus' a name… Say it wit' me Na-t-su," Natsu mimicked out slowly as she kept her eyes on the man that was only smiling slightly at her childish game. "Na-t-su. Nat-su."_

 _"How about we get to know each other first, senpai? That's how it usual-"_

 _Natsu felt a long shiver rake over her body as she teetered away from him. Her head hunched down as if dread was something that could hang from her hair. She grumbled out, "I can't deal wit' people like ya, 'Zuru. Not at all."_

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, this ended up being longer than I anticipated. That's exciting! Got to say, it was fun to write about her and Izuru's initial interaction. I felt it was kind of odd, given their conflicting personalities, to have them as a pairing from the get go but I thought it was necessary given the fact that Izuru was in fourth division for a short while. I feel that Natsu probably gives Izuru anxiety just by existing! hahahaha.**

 **Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this little exposition. Fingers crossed it doesn't feel too much like filler, because it didn't feel like that when I was writing it. I thought it would be a good memory for her to have at the moment. Let me know, though.**

 **Hope to hear from you all at some point so please leave a review or a comment or a question, or just pop in and say 'hi'. Available by PM if that makes anyone more comfortable.**

 **Since I probably won't post again until after the holidays... I hope everyone gets some much needed relaxation, some love, and lots of food! Sending you all well wishes.**

 **\- EvieVixen**


	41. Chapter 40

_"_ _Zuru, carry me." Natsu whined out as she flopped onto the shoulders of the man only a step ahead of her. Her chin clanked slightly against the bone of his shoulder, but she jostled her head to the side so her cheek leaned around the boy's bony frame._

 _Though the relationship between them was new, having only been a few months since that particular ambush outing, Izuru was a bit like a stubborn child following her around now that she had gotten used to. It had inevitably led to a level of comfort between the two of them. More so on Izuru's part, as Natsu dealt with everyone so casually that it was almost disrespectful even to someone of his standing. It was already considered disrespectful behavior to everyone above her, and that was a good majority of people that she dealt with, though no one had been able to get her to adopt a more professional bed side manner no matter how they tried. At least, now they could converse without Izuru constantly questioning her. Every now and again, he would still pop in with questions about her personality more than her knowledge, but he had adjusted pretty well._

 _The shift in his attention did not go unnoticed by some of his peers, who had also taken time to suss out her apparent abilities. She now had a small group of new entries to division four who watched over her meetings with patients and had even asked Unohana-taicho if they would be able to sit in on major operations that Natsu was supposed to be heading. At first the change was not welcome at all, though Unohana had more than once chided her to be more considerate because she had been them once; an idea she scoffed at. She found her sleep was more disrupted as she now had students tentatively coming up to her and asking her questions, but none were eager to try and look for her so if she disappeared from the barracks she was generally guaranteed her nap time. That was not including Izuru, who seemed to be developing a wonderful knack of figuring out where she was, even when she kept her reiatsu output low._

 _Izuru let out a small grunt and stumbled over to the side as he took the sudden weight to his side. Her one arm, which was slung over his shoulder, was gently picked away by holding her wrist and as he shifted, so that her cheek fell from his shoulder, he fashionably dropped the wrist he had been holding to get rid of her presence. "Are you injured?"_

 _"_ _No."_

 _"_ _Are you in any way incapable of walking yourself?" Natsu shrugged slightly as she slumped over her waist so that she looked like a true hunchback with her fingers by her knees and her head dropped below the curve of her shoulders. Izuru let out another sigh and shook his head. "Then there's no need for me to carry you."_

 _"_ _I'mma tired."_

 _"_ _That's not a reason, senpai."_

 _Natsu frowned dramatically and let out a small high-pitched whine. "Ya a meanie. Jus' carry me."_

 _"_ _Oh, what's this?" The two turned over to see Ayako coming down through the grass with her hand raised up slightly in a small waving gesture. "Don't tell me you've forgotten the time, Natsu."_

 _Natsu, oddly, slunk up - like a wave gliding over water as it slowly arched to its highest point - as she looked at Ayako who was only a step or two away from them now. As the mentor came to a pleasant, easy stop and gave her greetings to the blonde by their side, Natsu's brows furrowed just so she could feel the snag in her skin. Her attention drifted to the wakening of the night sky as the dialogue began to sink somewhere in the back of her head. The sun was just about at the horizon and she had to blink at her lack of observation of how the night had become more apparent. With a great big sigh from her lips, she tipped herself backwards until she fell all the way back on the grass ignoring Izuru's sudden cry at her movement. And there she was, having said that she hadn't been injured in any sort of way just a minute before._

 _Ayako let out a chuckle before ushering the boy to take a seat with them, and Natsu found them on either side her in only moments; with Ayako by her knees and Izuru by her head, though much more nervously as he squirmed as if he was sitting on thorns. She tipped onto her side and placed her head into her hand, her other hand flopping over her rib cage, and nestled down in the grass to watch the colors._

 _"_ _I'm surprised you haven't noticed Izuru-san," Ayako commented over Natsu's body. "Natsu watches the sunset and the sunrise everyday."_

 _"_ _Really?" the man mentioned back under his breath, almost as if he didn't want his incredulity to be heard but couldn't be prevented._

 _"_ _Then again you are still pretty new to the fourth division. Where did you transfer from?"_

 _"_ _Fifth division."_

 _"_ _Oh… Aizen-taicho's d-"_

 _"_ _Didn't know tha buzzin' bees be out tanigh'." Natsu placed a finger into her open ear, as her teeth gnawed at her lip for a moment before she dropped her mouth open to keep her mask up in place. Honestly, the buzzin' was just too troublesome. "Wha' can I do ta get em ta go away?"_

 _"_ _Senpai that was rude." Izuru's muffled voice came through the skin of her palm and the cracks of her fingers that was blocking her ear, and Natsu only gave him a small flicker of her eyes which he couldn't even see because of the way that they were sitting._

 _Ayako chuckled slightly. "It's fine. It's just Natsu's way of asking for silence." The words broke off for just a moment by Ayako let out a small muse, "I guess a sight like this needs silence."_

 _From the fields in the fourth division there was almost a clear view of the horizon out in front of them. The most impressive sunsets Natsu had seen were actually in the divisions by the western side. The thirteen division had a pretty decent one when she was out by the lakes and the reflection of the colors against the water was always a spectacular site. If she got over to division two then the sun casted a glow over the trees in a way that made all the particles in the air visible and she could make out the stream of light as they cut through the leaves and branches. She refused to go out towards division three and twelve because she couldn't stand to be in those areas, and the division eleven area had too many buildings which made the sunset rather standard._

 _If she was out by the rim, though, she'd get up on one of the buildings and watch as the sun went down straight through the Sokyoku Hill and the central 46 buildings. The sun always fell straight through the hole in the middle of the two obstacles. It would go right in the frame once it was low enough to be in the center of the building walls and the hillside, with the bridge as its roof and the rest of the buildings below the hill as its bottom. In that way, the light was distorted and it the rays seemed to emerge at first like a large beacon in the center, as the light had to tunnel through the frame before it could splay out wide._ _The backdrop was usually a dark red-orange by that point and the glare would make her squint her eyes to make sure that she could still watch it properly. If it was overcast it was even better with the clouds of gray taking on those colors for just a few moments as the sun burst out its lasts flames before everything tumbled into that blackness just before the moon used its own powers._

 _This time the sky was illuminated in a purple since there had been heavy rains for the past couple of days. It was making everything a bit too overcast even on the first dry day for the rays to split through everything. The purple stretched wide along the horizon, but as the color came closer to the sun a more vibrant, red-orange waved out and tripped into something lighter that was almost a soft lilac color, as it radiated out. It was steep contrast from the dark blue that was settled above the sun. As the sun sunk a bit deeper, a thin cover of pinkish orange started to come up; just barely keeping at bay the blanket of clouds that were trying to cover up the last of the sun's glaring warmth._

 _The sun fell down past their sight and there was a moment where the light seemed to grow just that much stronger as the sun was consumed in its own light. Then it flashed slowly as it grew too intense and the light slithered back towards its singular orb. The purples coated over everything as the last of the pinks disappeared as the sun sunk beyond the grasp of their eyes completely. The clouds took over the rest of the space imbuing a dark night for them to see coming forth, with the moon not strong enough yet to make it through the patchwork._

 _"_ _You do this every evening, senpai?" Izuru finally claimed._

 _Ayako let out a small hum when the moment of silence continued. There was a small pop as her lips came open after being closed for so long. She was probably giving him a pleasant smile, Natsu mused out, before she heard Ayako's response. "She wakes up to watch the sunrise, then goes back to bed... Unless she's on duty, that is. - And every evening she comes out here to watch the sun go back down."_

 _"_ _Really? I wouldn't ever take senpai to be the type to like watching something like this."_

 _"_ _Well," Ayako let out a small jingling hum to keep her laughter at bay, "you've just haven't noticed it yet… Don't worry you'll catch on."_

 _"_ _E's been too busy tryin' ta get me ta teach 'im kido," Natsu let out a small quip as a smirk came over her lips at the intake of breath from the man by her heard. Not that he was asking about such complex kido that her identity would be revealed, but it was enough to know that he knew he could reap the benefits of being taught by someone like her. "Ya ain't so cleva."_

 _"_ _That's not true at all senpai." Izuru tried to cover up as he let out a long tirade of flustered rambles._

 _"'_ _Zuru," Natsu chimed out suddenly getting the guy to stop before he really dug himself into a hole. "Give me ya lap."_

 _"_ _What?"_

 _"_ _Ma hand's gettin' tired holdin' ma head up, so give me ya lap."_

 _"_ _That's-"_

 _"_ _Tha's an orda."_

 _Natsu let out a hum while Ayako was chuckling and Izuru let out another series of quips. He followed with a long sigh and she made out the sound of grass and the rustle of clothing, which she knew to be his hakama. From her periphery she saw the black creep closer and when it was all she could see she finally set her head down. She popped it up several times, as if her head was doing jumping jacks from Izuru's lap, as she tried to get into a good position. She continued to ignore his whining, and then finally settled her heavy head onto his leg. The warmth came almost immediately up from his thigh, and she shuffled her ear and cheek to get more accustomed to the lack of give from his muscles; though it was softer than a rock._

 _"_ _I don't understand you at all senpai," Izuru insisted and Natsu let out a small hum. "Sometimes you say really smart things and then other times you waste orders on things like this."_

 _Ayako let out another chuckle to grab their attention and Natsu looked at the smiling woman from the bottom of her eyes. Her mentor was waggling a finger and then pressing her entire hand down on Natsu's knee. Patting it gently, she commented, "you'll learn how to read her eventually. She just has her own code."_

 _Izuru let out a long sigh and Natsu made out the sounds of his hands crushing down on the grass behind him. His body shifted slightly and she picked herself up so that he could find his own way of sitting. Then she repeated her process of finding a comfortable place to put her head, whilst moving her body so that her arm wouldn't go numb. She ended up with her torso scrunched up creating an angle with her arms; the bottom arm half hidden by her torso, so that her weight was more on her collar bone and shoulder, and the other arm sloping down along her chest. It was almost have if she was laying and creating a V with her arms._

 _"_ _I don't know how you put up with her Ayako-san. Not at all," Izuru grumbled out._

 _Ayako let out a small hum and then patted down on Natsu's leg again which she lazily made a swipe at. "Well, you haven't left yet so I suppose you know exactly how I put up with her."_

 _"_ _Tol' ya 'e's jus' usin' me for kido," Natsu spoke up, receiving a small smack on the leg from the woman. "Wha's tha fo'? I'mma jus' sayin' tha's wha' e's doin'."_

 _There was a momentary pause as the two tried to figure out who should speak first. Natsu missed the communication that was probably going on through their eyes and over her head, as she trailed her eyes back in front. Stars were emerging much more rapidly now that the sun's light was all gone, and the moon was becoming more prominent. The twinkling glints left nothing against her skin, and she already missed the blaze of heat that she had soaked up for most of the day. She let out a small sigh as she smushed her cheek down a bit more and shifted around to fix the bottom arm again, which was starting to tingle. Just what she was trying to avoid in the first place._

 _"_ _Well, Izuru-san, you certainly picked someone good for your kido tutelage." Ayako finally put out and Natsu flashed her eyes over to the woman. While she had mentioned to her mentor that she had been in the kido corps it wasn't really supposed to be common knowledge. "Kido happens to be Natsu's forte."_

 _"_ _I'm not doing that. I don't like using people just like that."_

 _Natsu picked for just a moment at his words, and the tone he used, and turned so that she was on her back and she could see the frown along his face. She let out a sigh which had his blue eyes flickering over to her. "Sun goes up says hi. Sun goes down wavin' goodbye. Tomorra is gone."_

 _Izuru blinked several times and his mouth opened slightly before closing as his features scrunched up, having not prepared for such a shift if the conversation. Natsu flickered her eyes to a bemused looking Ayako who was tilting her head as she was considering the words that were said. Something passed through the stormy blues of her eyes and then she nodded slightly as if she had concluded something from the change in tone and pattern of language. It wasn't like Natsu didn't always abruptly change like that. In fact, it was a well known tactic for her to use, though some only saw it as an annoyance and not as perceptively laid out strategy. Because who would imagine that her lazy attitude would allow her to think that much. Not that, that's what happened all the time. If she spent that much time just thinking about what to say, she wouldn't get to nap after all._

 _For some reason, though, Natsu's constantly shifting attitude always made Ayako think twice before responding to whatever was said. Then the checkmate that Natsu had crafted was disrupted by the patient analysis of her mentor figure. Natsu couldn't help the tight smirk that twitched along her lips before she forcibly dropped it, so her mask slipped back over her face. Over the years, Ayako had probably become too adept at reading her, but in some way, at least it gave her a small reprieve from always being the tired, exhausted version of herself._

 _A smile came a long her mentor's face then and Natsu read her lips as she said, "was that a haiku?"_

 _"_ _Jus' made it… Wha'cha think?"_

 _"_ _A haiku?" Izuru commented and Natsu turned back to see that he had lifted himself up slightly. "Wha… Well, it was rather – morbid?"_

 _"_ _Don't wanna 'ear tha' from ya an' yer gloominess."_

 _Izuru looked affronted for all of three seconds before he was pointed a finger at her. "When did you even like haikus? When I spoke about them you said you didn't know what they were."_

 _"_ _Natsu's actually very interested in the arts," Ayako chimed suddenly pulling them from their mock, droll glares at one another. Natsu let out a huff as she swung herself up from her pillow. She knew that they were both watching her movements, but when her head titled to look at her mentor Ayako only gave her a mischievous grin and continued speaking about the issue. "She does woodworks a lot."_

 _"_ _Really?" Izuru questioned towards Natsu instead of the woman that had let slip pieces of personal information. Natsu let out a grumble of her own and raised completely onto her feet announcing her departure without words. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and began her slumbering walk back to her actual bed. "Senpai?"_

Natsu felt herself shifting around in the dark. Her eyes scrunched and she twisted her head over to the side. There was a tiny dot of warmth that spread out quickly to swamp against her forehead and she wiggled her eyebrows up and down underneath it. Her finger suddenly gave a twitch and she felt that small spark leading her away from sleep. It was exactly like those times that she was slumped against his shoulders with her hands so tightly wound into his clothes. He would shift and her head would be conscious of all his movements before she could really register everything, as she floated half in her dreams and half in the real world. Her eyes would slither open just slightly and try to close again against all the new information that she was forming, with the firm leashes still tied to bring her a bit more into her dreams. Her restfulness would shatter when his long fingers would pat down on her back as if he knew from the very moment that she would wake up that she'd be whining just to go back to sleep. There, he was, though, to carefully guide her into the world of the awake and to gently prod her to open her eyes and learn something.

Natsu tilted her head over one way and her eyes slowly opened up. Before her were endless piles of white. White grains which shifted with the smallest brushes of air, landing one by one on top of another until all that she was surrounding by was the ocean of whiteness spread out before her. She let out a groan and twisted her head over towards the other side. There was a heat coming from that side and she could feel the small press of hands against her side, but it took her a long moment to recognize the black that was before her.

Her eyes traveled up and up until she saw the braid of dark hair that came along the front. Natsu coughed slightly which fell into a short chuckle. "Sup, cap."

"It's good to see you awake Natsu-san." Her warm voice came sweeping through, softer than the voices of the memories that Sekhmet had played for her. "You've certainly worn yourself out… It's taken me a long time to get your reiryoku stabilized and I've just started your reiatsu restoration."

"I jus' wanted ta sleep but em badies were bein' mean."

Natsu looked straight up at the blue eyes that slowly fluttered over as Unohana gave her a smile at the silly explanation. When the eyes opened up again Natsu saw the deep concern in them and looked away as the captain started speaking again over her body. "Isane-san how is the removal process going?"

"There's lots of thorns taicho but I've finally figured out the most effective way of removing them." There was a clear pride in the fukutaicho's voice and a sigh of relief. "I should be able to go through the process faster now."

"Natsu-san." Natsu turned up to see Unohana looking at her once more with those round eyes trying to take everything in. "Let me update you on the situation at hand."

Unohana's voice came out as cool water even as she described their invasion – meaning Kurotsuchi, Kuchiki, and Zaraki - through the garganta and the healing of both Chad and Rukia. There was a small rebuke from the captain, a predictable dressing down since she had used the seals again without explicit permission, but, ultimately, the seals had been helpful in preserving and stabilizing the bodies until Unohana and Isane were able to help. A few battles ensued with the help of the other captains and they had reduced the number of espada several times.

Their efforts, however, had been impeded by Aizen launching his own invasion into the Fake Karakura Town. The exiled captain had taken a few more of the espada with him as well as the other two former captains and had left after shutting the gargantas that they had used. This was not a shock to Natsu, who didn't have enough energy to shudder that she had once again predicted Aizen to some extent. She didn't not want to have any connect to that sick, warped mind.

"We are finishing the last remaining fights as we speak." Unohana reasoned out simply, not knowing what Natsu was thinking about but gaining her attention nonetheless, and lifted her hands for only a brief moment as she switched her position so that she could set up healing on the other side. "Kurotsuchi-taicho is analyzing as much data as possible to get a new garganta open."

"Tha's good then."

Unohana peered over at her quizzically, taking the moment to pause in the scan that she hadn't really started, and to shift her position. Natsu gave her a smirk which had the captain narrowing her eyes just a slight bit. "Why do you say it like that, Natsu-san?"

"I's a good thing tha' ya came an' woke me up, cap." Natsu reiterated as she slowly rose up much to the protests of the fukutaicho. "I know 'ow ta 'elp tha creepy cap."

"I do not suggest moving, Natsu-san."

"I'mma gonna propose tha' ya get me ova ta tha creepy cap, cap…. An' I'll tell 'im tha info 'e needs then ya can finish up ya healin'."

The two women looked at one another for just a moment; Natsu with that smirk falling to a serious deadpan and Unohana with her rock solid stare. Finally the latter of the two shifted her eyes away as if inspecting the fights and then back to the girl. There was no remedy for stubbornness after all.

"Very well," Unohana stated much to the protest from her fukutaicho. "This is what I shall do… I will put a stop to your reiatsu restoration and both Isane-san and I will get all the thorns out. After which we will go and aid Kurotsuchi-taicho."

* * *

 **A/N: Hi! I hope everyone had a good holiday season and Happy New Year! Wishing all of you the best.**

 **Anyway, I missed an update last weekend, so I'm posting this now. Watch out for the next chapter this coming weekend, as well!**

 **Comment/review/question/say 'hi'**


	42. Chapter 41

"I'mma tellin' ya somethin' so liste-"

"I have nothing to hear from a insol—"

"Jus' cause i's from tha' blonde bastard don'-"

"I have no need for you." Kurotsuchi finally came to a stop from his angry storming around as he stomped his foot against the ground of the warehouse they were both in. His fingers were pointed up to the ceiling but they were twitching around at such a fast pace as if he was imagining scrambling through her brains. No doubt he wanted to with her attitude. "No need for an ingrate -"

"Fine." Natsu huffed out some breathe and cut through his rant again. The creepy captain eyed her warily for a moment - even going so far as to glance at Isane just over her shoulder - before turning around and continuing his investigation that she had "rudely" - according to him at least - interrupted by "spewing stupidity".

Unohana had done exactly what she had promised and had gotten every single dart out of her body. The two doctors had even gotten to covering up the worst of the injuries and gouged holes. However Natsu found herself still coated over in the pink after math of her fight as well as crusted blood which hadn't been washed off. Minor wounds still punctured her skin due to the urgency of the matter. Her reiatsu was swarming in all sorts of directions she couldn't control just yet, but she was working on getting it under wraps, and the rest of the healing process - after this last battle - would help to stabilize her. Her head was heavy on top of her body and she was walking with a weird jumble because sometimes her legs gave up on her.

Isane was behind Natsu with her arms out as if she had previously tried to stop the fight, eyes flickering nervously at how hot-blooded and edgy the conversation between a captain and subordinate was getting. It most certainly didn't help that the reiatsus from the fights were still going on and they would flare up every now and again while they had been busy with the argument. Oh how atmosphere added so many subconscious layers to interactions that people didn't even realize. However, this interaction was not a normal occurrence that happened in Seireitei, since the hierarchy was always strictly followed, and insubordination was not taken lightly. Backtalk, particularly in a disrespectful manner, was often the first symptom that captains treated and they could treat it quite harshly depending on how vicious the captain wanted his reputation to be. It was an image that Kurotsuchi-taicho had no second thoughts about. He was known after all for being the most sadistic with his division members, and while he was somewhat kinder with his scientists - because on an off-chance they might be able to contribute something - it was only marginally better.

Upon noticing that there was a small pause, and thinking it was a loss for her peer, Isane came back over to her and moved to gently lay hands on her shoulders. Natsu looked over to the side at those movements and then pulled the bag around so it was like a baby at her front, whilst avoiding Isane who let out a few quiet whines about how she needed to start the healing process. Natsu dug through her bag and pulled out her cellphone. Her eyes flickered over to Isane who had instantly stopped talking and had resorted to watching again with curious, fear and begrudging silence at what was going to happen.

She moved her eyes back over to Kurotsuchi who had resumed his search through the warehouse and very loudly let her phone snap open. She made a show of pressing down on random buttons watching as his body grew stiffer with each noise that she let radiate out across the room. Perhaps he was stiffening because it was a noise that was disrupting his thought process, but more likely it was because he knew exactly what those sounds meant. She smirked when she saw a small glance of his yellow eyes and brought the object up to her ear. She breathed out noisily like she was hearing the dial-tone and couldn't stand the wait, before she grinned.

"Sup Kisuke," she spoke loudly, drawing out her syllables and the volume of her words, and watched as the odd captain turned over to her fully with his eyes coming out slightly from their sockets and his lips pressed so tightly that the blue skin was becoming white from the pressure. "Yeah… I was jus' havin' this talk wit' yer _previous -_ _subordinate_."

"Alright!" Kurotsuchi gritted out and flung his hand out to Nemu. "Take that object away from her, Nemu."

Natsu immediately put her arms up innocently. The black screen of her phone was fully in his sight as she waggled it slightly with a grin along her face. How she actually got away with her little ploy she wasn't sure. Perhaps the scientist didn't know too much about human technology or had jumped the gun into thinking calling Kisuke was something she would really do. Either way, she was grateful as she watched the captain grow more and more annoyed as he started to come to conclusions about what had just happened. Kurotsuchi shook violently as he contained all his rage which only became apparent as it traveled up to his face. His mouth dropped open as he let out a loud stream of vulgarities and obscene messages about how he would do unthinkable experiments on her after that the steam started to make its way through to a point that his words were almost gibberish from speaking so fast. Nemu had stopped and was watching as well as the captain was pushing everything out in his ranting and the punishment that he was doling out to the floor that was only trying to support him.

Natsu slipped her deadpan look back on and snapped the phone closed before slipping it back into her bag, all while he continued with his tirade. After that was done she looked over her shoulder at her bewildered fukutaicho and stuck her tongue out while giving her a 'V' for victory with her fingers. She finished with a small shrug on her part which got a quivering smile from Isane fukutaicho who really looked like she wanted to be elsewhere. Kurotsuchi's tirade still went strong in the background throughout all this, and Natsu felt her patience wear thin as he began to repeat himself for the third time. Even creativity had its limits it seemed.

"Great." Natsu finally spun out once she was back to her normal expression and was done celebrating her second victory over the captain who was dissecting her in the grossest ways possible in his mind. "So I ain't a scientist so ya gonna 'ave ta figure out wha' ta do wit' tha info I give ya."

Kurotsuchi's eye twitched slightly and then beckoned with his hand so that she would walk up to him and undoubtedly disappear into the hanger with him. Apparently there had been a scientist espada who kept a very odd collection of instruments and other souvenirs from all of his experiments. Kurotsuchi had been spending his time wandering his way through it with no real purpose other than to collect information. He was going about making several assumptions when she had come in, much to his chagrin at being interrupted from his other insane projects. He hadn't been on course to figuring out how to open a garganta, but she had finally gotten him back on track after enough goading; a disruption she was sure only fed his impatience at getting her out of the warehouse.

Natsu peered over her shoulder again at Isane who was about to object and gave a small nudge of her head. The fukutaicho wavered for another moment before walking back outside of the storage unit. This had to be done anyway, and the captain was already angry enough that there was no point in annoying him further. She moved up toward him with her slightly faltering limbs and they made their way over to a small pile. He had gone about reorganizing the place so that he could figure out how everything functioned, and in doing so already had twelve massive piles. There was something minorly impressive about how quickly he had done that, but Natsu didn't want to spend any thorough amount of time giving the man any sort of compliment or trying to figure out what he would do with even a quarter of everything that he wanted to collect.

"This is currently all the stock pile I have on the garganta," Kurotsuchi claimed as he thrust a hand over towards the smaller pile. "It appears as though their ability to open and close the garganta is something very innate to them."

"I's 'cause tha reishi is movin' a bit more at their frequency," Natsu murmured as she took in the odd assortment. "A'righ'… Kisuke said tha' reishi runs at a frequency of 2.02 million a sec at i's fastes' an' less than 1 million a sec at i's slowes'."

"Nemu… Grab that material we had thrown away." Natsu blinked slowly a few times and watched as the twelfth division fukutaicho, in mere seconds, was working before Natsu found the captain breathing down her neck again. She did her best to maintain her more stoic expression as Kurotsuchi rambled, "you must know that only certain types of material can radiate the same amount of particles, others would just burn out, or be destroyed in the process."

"I didn't know tha'… I jus' followed wha' Kisuke said."

Kurotsuchi's eye twitched again and he loomed a bit more over her. "What exactly did he have you do?"

"Kisuke said ta get thick wood from tha northern area o' tha Seireitei. Then lace em up with bakudo eighty three times an' stick em into two parallel stones which should have a pathway to trail down ta the ground covered in kido as well."

"He did that so that nothing would explode," Kurotsuchi explained slowly as if talking like she didn't understand Japanese at all. "The trees out in the northern part of seireitei are made from the most durable reishi. In fact it's the only area in all of seireitei with reishi that can travels at up to 2.5 million a second. This is because of—"

Natsu blinked slowly at the tone of voice that started to swirl around her. Her eyes twisted over to the side and then to the other. When she fell back on Kurotsuchi, he had turned his back to her with his arms moving about to show the pattern of his speech. She moved away from him and traveled a bit over toward the pile that he had shown to her. It was strangely familiar to see small piles like this, even if the content of them was completely different. When she had been a child there had been a large piles, and small piles, like this in the back of her household. Her grandfather was a woodworker, and being retired from his job, he spent a lot of time at the back room which he had converted into a shop for himself. She had wandered in several times accidentally to find wood of all types; long, short, stiff, sodden, thick, thin. All colors too; from burgundy to putrid tan that made up the inside of trees.

Her grandfather had taken her fascination with the room as if she was fascinated with the act, or art, of woodworks itself. Since she still hadn't gone off to the academy and had little else to do, she had decided that at least listening to the man ramble in his lectures about how to make art from wood was the best way to get to sleep. He'd slap a large piece of wood against the underside of her seat, just barely skimming her calves each time, which would jolt her awake just as her eyes started feeling too heavy. Such actions had her regretting her decision severely at the beginning. He had even broken one of his own chairs by doing that; a chair which she was, in retrospect, hilariously, blamed for breaking by the man. It really hadn't been funny at the time when he was shouting at her for being the cause of his anger and forcing his hand into break his own chair. Then one day, all of a sudden, he quit giving lectures all together and stuffed a piece of wood into her hands along with a blade to start cutting. He left not moments later, giving her no explicit directions other than the obvious ones, and she had blinked several times at the wood before grumbling as she shaved it down into something else.

It took her weeks to finish. As she had been shaving it down, she had tossed through several ideas but as soon as she put them into effect the shape would change in another way, due to her not knowing what she was doing, and she had to forego that idea. The process was so arduous that it infuriated her so much into actually finishing the project. At last the wood finished moving and deciding what it wanted to be for itself, and she had carved it away. When she had held it up to the ceiling it had been a very rough cut of what a sun should have looked like, in the way a child always saw it with a giant circle in the middle and triangles blooming around the circumference. Her grandfather had praised the work nonetheless, and had put it up in a small cabinet with his own works. If she remember correctly, it was probably still there collecting dust in that cabinet.

"Honestly, why it was you I'll never understand." Kurotsuchi cut through her thoughts again and she tossed a look over her shoulder to see the prideful captain standing above her. "You understand nothing of science. Your face is completely blank with your own stupidity."

"Does it botha ya tha' even still I could replicate wha' Kisuke did? O' tha I could do exactly wha' 'e wanted wit' tha Tenkai Ketchu?"

"Not at all. Idiots like you are supposed to copy and follow the orders of those who are superior."

Natsu twisted back to the pile of junk and then shoved her hands into her pockets as she moved a small cylinder with her foot. There was a high pitched clink as its top came in touch with the floor, and then that whirling sound as it rolled further away. She watched the piece until it was completely stopped, though it wavered for just a moment in contemplation as if to head back the way it had came. She let out a sigh and looked over to the captain that had already gone back to working with Nemu.

 _'E's figured it out then._

 _Go get healed, Natsu._

 _… Shudup. Tha's wha' I was gonna do._

Natsu didn't even bother handing out a goodbye to the captain who was barking out how Nemu should be moving about and what she should do. The captain himself was invested in his creation with his own hands twitching about like the neurons firing off in his brain. The words of how he was going to build up his creation followed Natsu out, along with the sounds of the construction of it. She nodded slightly to the genius that was that far along. Kisuke left his division in the best hands. At least, scientifically speaking. The mental state of that division was up for questioning, but there was no one that would deny the obvious capabilities of the division. Probably why the creepy captain got away with so much.

"Natsu-san."

Natsu peered over at Isane who immediately was standing and walking over to her once she stepped a foot outside the doorway. Natsu nodded her head slightly and met the woman halfway, then thrust her thumb over her shoulder. "Creepy cap's workin' 'lready so tha garganta will be done soon o' somethin'."

"That's great," Isane let out a relieved whisper and then held her arms over in gesture to get back to the captain that was waiting for them further away from the lab, and in the in-between section of the fights going on. "I'm surprised you know so much about this stuff."

"I don't."

"Eh? - But you helped both Ura-"

Natsu only shook her head slightly. "Kisuke tol' me 'ow ta get everythin' done an' so did Tessai. I jus' followed tha instructions left fo' me. Did 'elp tha I know stuff from kido corps but I ain't tha inventor of anythin'."

"Except for your medical techniques," Isane put out with a small smile which grew slightly as Natsu looked over at her.

"Yeah." Natsu let out a small sigh. "Tha's wha' I'mma good at."

Isane let out a small laugh and they met up with Unohana who already was prepared to get the procedure done. Natsu sunk down against the sand which greeted her like an old friend and let her sink down into it while still pressing her up. Closing her eyes, she could make out the vibrations of the fights were still going on. She could make out every single tumble and rumble through her spine and the press of her hands.

* * *

"Besides I can't just go back as easy as that!" Ichigo all but spat at whoever would listen as Kuchiki was pushing him away from the giant monster that was the last espada. "Not unless Urahara-san opens the way from the other sid-"

"I swear… Enough with Urahara already." Natsu found her eyes springing open with the shudder that went over her frame at the voice that sounded out along the area. Unlike his rants which she could tune out, this time the creepy captain had the unfavorable twist of joy along his tongue and that was too high pitched and grating to be blocked out.

Though she was still injured, Natsu and her two higher ups had felt the passing wind that was the way the fighting had settled in the area. There had been a sudden increase in reiatsu from their enemy, a solitary enemy that was left, and there was a change in tone of the area. All division four members developed a kind of sixth sense about when war or battles were dwindling and finally coming to an end. Ikkaku called into the natural sense for cowards who always hid around corners until the coast was clear. She called it sense and Unohana called it a learned skill. Unohana ordered that they started making their way towards the battle front again, claiming that she also felt Kurotsuchi moving about. It could have meant only one thing, so they had packed up their things and Natsu found herself on Isane's back in a semi doze as she was trying to sleep off the flares in her reiryoku.

"Ya can let me down." Natsu grumbled out seeing as there was no way she'd be getting back to sleep now with the scientific captain so happy and so close. "Be pretty bad if Ichi saw me lookin' so pathetic."

They all paused momentarily as Natsu gained her footing upon the sands, and then they were off again. It wasn't so much that she wanted to walk. She'd much rather be resting and dozing away. However with the creepy cap yammering away like he was and the now static voices that were coming through her communicator it would be impossible. Buzzing bees. She could make out the sounds of Yasuchika attempting to get the fourth division to settle down as the voices began to clear out over the communicator. Apparently the war had taken a turn for the worse and they didn't know whether or not to proceed with the orders from Unohana or not given the state.

"Whatta ya want me ta tell em, cap?" Natsu questioned, receiving a small curious gaze from the captain. She tapped lightly on the device in her ear and garnered a more definitive nod. "Somethin's got crybaby up in 'is tantrum."

"That's very rude Natsu-san…. But I suppose if Yasuchika-san is as worried as you state then you should inform him that I will be heading towards the war front." Unohana slowly put together with her blue eyes steeling over as she turned back to where they were heading.

Natsu grunted slightly and then pressed down the device. "Yo, crybaby… Shut ya yappin' - Cap's gonna be at tha battle real soon so keep ya voice down."

"Is… Is this Natsu?" the male voice ground back after a small break. Oh, she could practically make out the grind of his teeth and that disobedient finger that would nudge his glasses up the bridge of his nose, even though he would want to loom like a pillar over her.

"Yup… Now ever'one 'eard tha so 'old ya positions an' wait 'til tha cap says othawise." Natsu tauntingly put out in small bursts of words. Her voice only hardened towards the end to get over all the worried protests from the other company members. She only looked over to her captain when she got the affirmation from the other side. "Hopin' ya 'ave a safe trip, cap is tha summary."

"How splendid." The woman breathed out with a tiny smile appearing upon her face before she stopped just on top of the cliff that they were on. "There is no need for concern. I shall go along with you."

As her captain jumped down the rest of the distance, Ichigo turned over to watch the flourish of movement. His eyes suddenly shot up past the descending captain and Natsu tossed a quick smirk and flick of her hand. His eyes narrowed to sharpen his vision no doubt and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to shout something at her. However, Ichigo was pulled back to the present situation; probably for the best. His eyes searched over her small captain and then he voiced out her name very slowly. Natsu shook her head at the obliviousness of the human boy. He still sucked at sensing and recognizing reiatsu obviously.

Kurotsuchi looked even more pleased as he cut through any words that the orange head could say next, "volunteering to be a test subject. That is rather… capricious of you, division four captain."

"Not at all. I have utter confidence in your abilities, Kurotsuchi-taicho," the woman responded immediately with that smooth voice of hers. "It will be fine. It will undoubtedly succeed… After all, should you have come all the way to Hueco Mundo - used both arrancar information and information from my own subordinate to analyze the garganta - and failed… Urahara Kisuke would surely laugh at your expense."

Natsu snickered until the point that she had to cover her mouth and hunch over her stomach which though it was hurting from her fights, felt like it was falling apart as she did her best to stifle her laughs. Though, she wasn't doing a very good job given the glare that Kurotsuchi shot towards her, which only egged on her chuckles until she found herself coughing from the effort and the pain. Unohana was absolutely the worst captain of the lot; a sentiment shared with the tiny giggle from Isane who was much better that maintaining composer. Natsu whipped at the tear in her eye and shoved her hands down into her pockets as a smirk maintained its fashion along her face. After all, there was no way that Kurotsuchi could handle the motherly snide from the fourth division captain when his temper was so short to not be able to deal with her own antics.

"Isane-san, Natsu-san," Unohana called and the two of them made their way over the distance. While Isane made a small jog toward the captain, Natsu kept her sloth-like walk to cross the distance. "You both will remain here for the moment to assist both Kuchiki-taicho and the others. Isane-san please continue with the reiatsu restoration on Natsu-san until she is at least at her seventy-five percent mark."

Natsu narrowed her eyes slightly and then let out a long sigh. "Don't tell me ya wan' me ta go ta tha battle front too."

"Indeed I do." Natsu blanched at the straightforwardness and shucked her eyes away from the ever pleasant woman who held the devil in her soul. While it was funny to see the short captain applying pressure on others, it was not fun to be on the receiving side. "You are one of the most capable healers I have and I figured you into my war time plans." Natsu felt a small sweat spilling over as her captain shifted that smile into the pressed torture she could exude. "Having you go to Hueco Mundo was out of my calculations, but please make sure you respond to your call in the near future, Natsu-san."

Her tongue felt a bit thick from the sugary sweetness of her captain and then gave a slow nod. The moment the pressure instantly vanished, Isane was next to her with another half sympathetic giggle escaping her, and Natsu was instantly grumbling. Her hands once again found their way into her pockets, with her head tossed over to the side as she watched the rolling sands that were fluctuating as the fight continued, and grumbled some more at having to do more work yet again.


	43. Chapter 42

She dozed yet again under the sun with her arms and legs loosely out in prostration to its whims. Isane had healed her up to the seventy-five percent like ordered. Natsu had then told her to take a break. Even if there were still pockets in her body and other gouges that still existed and needed tending to, there was no point in wasting the effort. There would be other injuries that would need to be healed; here or at the warfront. Even with the help of Orihime, the fukutaicho could not be worn thin from just healing one person when there were still patients waiting. Particularly if those people that needed healing were both captains. Unohana had probably ordered it so that Isane would stay here, taking care of the remaining patients, and Natsu would be the one to go back in order to make up for the gap of losing the fukutaicho. However, primarily, it was simply annoying to have someone hovering over you at all times while you tried to take a nap.

Nonetheless she felt her whole body swimming under the needle point warmth of the brightness above her. It was an artificial sun that couldn't come near to replicating what the true sun did but she supposed it fulfilled its purpose. Though she would never admit to it to anyone else, Natsu knew that she was rather obsessed with the sun though she felt she had good reason to adore the object. Everyone always felt slightly melancholic in the darkness that permeated from the night time, even those who considered themselves night owls. In the brightness, there was the breath of new life at every single tip of the universe. She could think of nothing that was not touched, helped, or fostered by the help of the sun. Even the fish that swam deep in the sea needed the organisms that grew with the help of the sun's rays at the top of the surface.

Her line of thought reminded her briefly of the story that she had initially presumed Sekhmet would tell her, in order to help her drift away from the pain of her injuries. Though the memories had been pleasant, now she could reflect on the story that had alluded her for many years now. When Natsu had been a child, she had been very terrified of the lion that had roared so proudly in her soul. At first, all she could hear were roars from somewhere deep in her mind; mostly during her dreams. Eventually, after some time, she was able to make out the form of said lion, though it was a vague illusion of her brain. After such a revelations, she steadily began to hear words instead of growls which helped to appease her fear, but even though she heard the voice for years she hadn't been able to hear a name. It was only later on that the woman appeared and that appearance had been highly confusing, but it had settled her tiny, palpating heart finally.

During that period of growth from a younger child to an older child, Sekhmet used to repeat a story to her that would douse her with sleep every single time. Natsu realized retrospectively that the zanpakuto had used it not only as a way to help in its own feeble way to ease the pain of her illness and to send her to sleep during fitful nights, but also to connect to a child who was often times fearful of the form, voice, and abilities of the soul in her. Even though the story had the ability to send her to sleep with a 100% success rate, the zanpakuto continued every night with this invented story. Eventually it didn't even matter if she had slept at all. Over the course of falling in and out of sleep, she caught up with every section of the story. She knew every single piece and could recite it easily, though she had never really liked the story to begin with.

In a desert during ancient times, there was a community that worshipped many different gods from above. The society was much like the Soul Society, although not nearly as militaristic and did not have the same scientific advancements as the Shinigami did. These people waged wars and conquered some territory, built some structures, but they were much more like the humans that Natsu had heard about at the time. They appreciated peace more than war, and worked at a slower pace for their innovations. They prospered after some time and built from the bottom up a grand village in the desert, right by the side of a river to give them some fertile lands. At the top of this society, who ruled and administered over the rest below. This king came from the gods and was chosen by the gods to rule the people in justice and fairness.

The gods also had a hierarchy. There was one god at the top, who ruled over everything and lit the world with the sun to show its power. This god had sons and daughters who ruled over different aspects. Death, life, health, war, fertility, disease, love, joy, and so forth went these gods and their contributions to the people below them; both physically and metaphorically speaking. In order to receive contributions from the gods, the people had to pray and give up alms to them individually for whatever blessing they sought from them. But always, the sun god was given alms for not only was the sun god the overall ruler but also the most nebulous in doling out his blessings and his punishments. The people had to be thankful and, most of all, they had to never impede the natural order that the sun god had taught them.

This trust and loyalty, though, was not something that could withstand the test of time. The sun god grew angry one day with the people who were being swayed from the balance that he had created. Because of their pride and their selfishness to pursue their own goals, there were massive slaughters of innocent peoples and, eventually, the complete destruction of the village that had been created in his name years before. Angered by what was happening, the sun god sent one of his daughters to act as the personification of his rage. This daughter was Sekhmet who was the godly ruler over war and this made her one of the potent fighters of the godly kingdom. She passed judgement just like the heat of the mid-day sun in the desert that she was helping to rule over with her father.

Under the orders of her father, Sekhmet went down to the earth in the form of a lion. In her wake, everything was burned with her heat and the sands became bloodied with those she killed in her rampage. Even the river began to run red from all of the blood. She destroyed everything over and over again, as much as her paws could touch and as fast as her feet could carry her. Continuing in her rampage, she quickly lost sight of the purpose of her mission and of maintaining some sense of justice in her kills. Blood lust had slipped furiously into her thinking. Delirious by her own heat and the scents and tastes of her victims, she plunged on forever until nearly everything was decimated.

Her father had watched this progression, from justified punishment to slaughter, and quickly became troubled by the situation he had instigated. All he had wanted to do was punish the people just a little for diverging from the peace that he had created for them. He attempted to get his daughter to finish her massacre by simply speaking to her, but she was too far gone in her own insanity to hear him calling off the affront. Instead he made her drunk with beer he had tainted the color red. In her confusion, she mistook it all for blood - a liquid that she had been feeding from during her rampage - and she toppled over where she was drinking and slept.

Though the people had feared her and her actions, they took care of her lion form during her sleep and had left alms for when she awoke. They wanted for it to be taken as a symbol of their sorrow for not following the wills of the gods, but also as a genuine devotion to taking care of their gods in the future. Upon waking up from her deep sleep, the bloodlust Sekhmet had suffered from was completely gone. Whilst she ate the alms, she watched as the people were rebuilding everything that was torn apart. She turned to her father in confusion and asked what had happened since there was evidence of destruction but she had no re-collection of the events. She was told the tales of her own terror and was immediately ashamed by what had happened.

Now Sekhmet, to her closest friends, was not just a warrior goddess but also a healer and had a natural gift for cleansing wounds. She turned to her father and asked for his permission to remain as a lion on earth and teach the people how to better heal those injured and to prevent the diseases that came with being around death. Seeing her daughter's remorse and begging, the sun god turned her back into her original form - a lovely woman - and bid her to heal under his name. He too was saddened by what had happened and was happy to gift his people with a conciliatory present. He wanted to help restore the colony to its former glory with his help and he did that with his own words of apology and by sending her back to them. Sekhmet did her best to fulfill her father's great desire and to restore the community, but she felt the loss of her father's presence greatly and grieved. Even still, she did not ask to return to his side and remained with the community, though she would stare at the sun like it was her father's eyes and take time in the sun as if she was in the her father's hug.

In an odd way, the story helped to explain the inner world that Natsu would later trespass through a few times over the course of many years. When the sun was destroyed in her own world, the sun in her inner world had gone dark. Dreams, which used to drift in the endless skies of blue like clouds did on a bright day, disappeared one by one and the sun burned out to be a black hole in the sky. For just a brief moment during her grief, Natsu had resided with her zanpakuto in the soul world and decided that they had felt the same exact pain if the story was anything to go by. It made her wonder if Sekhmet had some sort of psychic ability as she recalled the story at that time. Then, as quickly as she got to the soul world, she left it behind and found another goal to fulfill her time, ignoring the indignant uproar in her own soul.

Natsu only felt the tug of hands on her brain when there was static coming through the other end of the communicator. Her hand lethargically bumped up against her face and then her ear and she pressed the device further in as she tried to make out the scramble of the words. In the mean time, her other hand washed along her hair and then long down her face. Her fingers only paused in her rubbing when there was a burn in her eyes from rubbing too hard and then she opened them up and immediately squinted.

"Repeat tha?" Her dreary grumble came out.

Yasuchika let down another breathy tumble of words that came out in a squawk to her negligence. "Taicho is asking for your immediate recall. Get a move on, Kotomi."

Natsu thumped her hand back down to the ground and then used them to push up from the ground. Creating a slant with her back, she rested against one hand and wiped over her face again as she continued to process everything that was going on. There was still a fight going on but it looked like both Kuchiki and Byakuya were capable of dealing with it. Isane had moved around to heal the rest of the patients splattered around, and both Uryu and Orihime had showed up from wherever they had been. She couldn't remember seeing them before. The war was still going on at Seireitei, but it appeared she was being called to the warfront nonetheless.

She made a lazy roll up to her feet by first getting into her squatted position with her head being the last thing to get up into the air. Then she pushed up with her thighs and got to her feet. She sent a small wave over to the group who were toiling around and watching the proceedings with a reluctance that came with being a warrior. Renji glared at her for a moment, mouth open to question what new information she had, but closed it as he waved her on to do what she had to do. Her feet sloppily transversed over the sands as she walked up to the pillar that she had seen the captain sitting upon.

Her hand came up to her brow as she edged the sun's rays from her eyes so that she could stare up at the undoubtedly blinking eyes of the fukutaicho who had approached the edge of the pillar upon hearing her approach. "I'mma gettin' ordas ta get ta tha battle front."

The fukutaicho nodded quickly and disappeared to talk to her captain. Natsu did a slow pat check to make sure she had everything on her. No way was she returning to Hueco Mundo at any point soon. Belatedly she realized that she still had her top off, and wrapped around her hips. She made no moves to put it on properly again as she felt around her sleeves for the rest of her items. If she was going to be healing then she'd only work up another sweat. Additionally she had a bunch of injuries and her shihakusho would only serve to really irritate them.

"So Unohana-taicho made it back soundly - Brilliant! - And now she's requesting your services even with the war going on." Natsu peered back up at the bland expression on the twelfth division captain's face as his teeth were locked and loaded in his mouth and his eyes were slowly blinking down at her from his perch at the top of one of his pillars. "I suppose that means that war is coming to an end."

"I suppose ya can suppose tha'."

"And why should I -"

"Really?" Natsu let out a small whine as she fought to prevent getting into another bickering session with him. It was much too troublesome at this point to get all riled up by the man. "I'mma gonna there ta save some tools tha the Soul Society still wan's ta keep so can ya open this damn garganta… Cap."

"Hm… I suppose that's a decent enough response to warrant my help." His arm flung out like his words and the fukutaicho was jumping over to the other pillar to get the mouth to open up again. "I don't really care for repeating myself so let's just hope that you were listening the first time."

Natsu let out a small snort as she saw the eye opening up and the dark purple reishi that was just inside of it spitting from the entrance. She hopped up to stand on the air whilst looking over at the captain from her periphery. "I ain't very good at listenin' ta men babblin'."

She missed all his subsequent rants and flung herself over into the pits and began her run across the weird territory.

* * *

The way back had been far more turbulent and her reiatsu had cracked much easier on the pathway that she had crafted for herself. She could either put it down to the half-assed working of Kurotsuchi, his intent to actually kill her, or her own exhaustion. The latter wouldn't be improbable even with the healing time she was given, because who could work for over a day straight, fight in three battles in that same period, get injured, and still be in perfect condition. Even with being healed, her body had already reached its maximum. She had been conveniently ignoring her situation since Unohana had been so sure that the flailing reiryoku had settled before her departure back to the front lines. However, though it remained mostly silent - the reason for Unohana's optimism -, it was spiking in successive spurts of large, painful skewering motions. It was enough for her to know that she was really in the need for a long, long sleep even if she was able to do some work now.

Natsu literally fell over in a flop as she was discarded out on the other side. She got up first on her hands and knees and then back onto her feet. She felt the pulse of her own heartbeat as it reeled back from echoing through her entire body to settling to a normal pace. She shook off what she could and began to make it through the rubble that was left of the fake town she had helped to create.

 _Che…. They really destroyed ever'thin'._

 _It was a war._

 _Don't mean they got ta take it out on tha town. 'Ave some respet fo' tha time I put in ta creatin' it._

"K—Kotomi!"

She looked up at the flurry of fourth division faces that were heading over to her and dragging with them frantic weariness of the situation they were all in. She made sure that her face had smoothed out and that she was back in her regular bored look as she slumped down with her hands in her pockets. Her eyes took in all the anxious faces that were pooling around her rapidly. Her ears began buzzing with the intensity of their words as they spoke about how they were all getting called out now since Aizen had gone to the real Karakura Town with Ichigo chasing after. They hefted word after word onto her until she was very literally putting both hands over her ears and barked out a strong two beat to shut them up. They quieted immediately at her small tantrum and backed up just a touch.

"I 'eard ever'thin 'lready. Stop repeatin' useless thin's ta me." They moved a bit further away from her projectile words and the harsh intonation. "Where's tha cap?"

"She's healing up a victim from this strange group," a brunette supplied. "The ones that came to help us out."

Natsu narrowed her eyes and waved all of them away. They did so only after looking at one another and with a few lingering looks at her. No doubt they wanted something much more conciliatory or optimistic to hear. Maybe even some information that they thought she could have about this strange group that had joined the war effort. They should have known better than to receive such things from her. She turned as swiftly as her half steps would allow her and locked onto Unohana's reiatsu. She began to trapeze across the area with small attention to the steps she took and moved toward the dangerous area that the fourth division had set up the triage medical stations.

There were already a numerous amount of tents that were pitched up along all the more stable building tops or in cleared out ground that they had made. There was tons of dust, dirt, and grime around and it wasn't clean enough to allow for treatment on all of the injuries but it would do. This was a warfront after all. Beggars can't be choosers. Technically, if she had bothered to think deeply on the situation, all places were unsterile for working conditions, even those that they cleaned to the utmost in the fourth division. The tents, thankfully, were just enough to get some of the unhealthy particles away from the bodies in these conditions. The fabrics, one of the useful inventions from the science division, were made of a special mesh material to help catch bad particles. They also were probably using pads from the same material to lay the patients on to keep them from the ground. Or they were using the elevated beds.

Natsu let out a small groan at the destruction for another reason entirely. She had spent weeks working on crafting each building to the exact specifications that they had observed. It had been the only fun part out of everything that she had done in order to create the Tenkai Ketchu. She had molded out the details of each building to the near exactness that Tessai had gotten worried they actually wouldn't finish the project in time. In addition to the demolition of her buildings, they had actually destroyed one of the pillars that she had imbued with her reiatsu and seals. According to rumor, she was going to have to kill Ikkaku; a fight that she was sure he was looking forward to in some way.

Natsu let out a small whistle as she spied Yoruichi who was resting with the rest of the Vizards. The stereotypical male call garnered her their attention but she only focused on what the feline was wearing. It was essentially just a black bathing suit, which was fashioned in the same way the second division corps top was which meant that the cat's back was completely exposed as were parts of her sides. There was a yellow scarf around her neck but it did nothing to hide the dark skin that was showing; leaving her form very exposed to the surroundings. In addition the cat had on gloves that ran from her bicep down to the half way point of her palms, and knee length socks that went from her mid-thigh down.

She whistled again and gave a small nod as she raised her hand up and gestured faintly at the get up. "Who's wet dream did I wanda in ta if ya lookin' like tha' Yoruichi?"

Natsu fell over her own waist at the harsh punch she felt going into her gut. Just barely had she been able to clench her ab muscles enough to avoid the maximum amount of pain that she could have received. Not that it did much help. She clenched her teeth as she knocked herself down to the ground to groan about the hefty indent she felt in her stomach. Her two knees and the one hand not wrapped around her torso supported her stay on the ground, whilst she tried to get some air back into her lungs. Through squinting eyes, she could already see the raging cat had already moved away from her slumped form. The former captain was now on the ground sitting just a few steps away. Some of the other group members were letting out snickers but those muffled chuckles were dying down quickly.

"Seems ma humor jus' ain't goin' ova well wit' anyone," Natsu whined out slightly as she got up and stumbled the rest of the way to the group, aiming to get beside the feline, as she rubbed at the now bright red spot on her stomach. Undoubtedly it would leave a harsh, blue-purple bruise on her skin for weeks. "I was in this figh' an' made a joke 'bout dick size… But 'e jus' didn't get it, ya know? Went completely ova 'is head an'… Wha?"

"You look like someone punched you full of holes." Yoruichi's hand flung out as she prodded at some of the still open holes in her skin.

Natsu blinked several times and looked over her form, waving away the offending hand that ceased almost instantly, before twisting her head down to the woman with a smirk along her face. "'Ow'd ya guess? Turns out this guy got tha 'bility ta shoot spikes."

"You haven't healed them yet?"

"Nah… 'ealin' em 'fore I got 'ere gives ever'one free reign ta say I didn't do nothin'... Which I did, ya know. Jus' can't let 'em othas get all tha 'tention."

"Natsu-san." Natsu turned immediately over to her captain. The woman hadn't moved from her position over Hiyori and was giving the smaller girl the utmost attention with a cautious turning of hands as she continued to heal. "I'm glad that you returned on my orders."

Natsu pushed a finger into her ear and turned over to the side. "I 'xpect tons o' sleepin' time afta this."

The captain only nodded and just as she was about to speak on about her next orders, her brows furrowed suddenly. Noticing the sudden intense focus that Unohana needed, Natsu turned her look over to the blonde that was under the captain's care and sussed out the reason why the captain was reverting back to focusing solely on the blonde Vizard. There was evidence of the healing but there was a large gash that was running long across the Vizard's stomach. From the deepness of it Natsu could suspect that the sword had cut through down to the spine, and there were several organs that had been hit by the slash.

Natsu slowly turned her head to see the pink man that gave her a small nod. Her mouth opened up slightly and a moment passed before she found her voice again. "Didn't ya say ya guys weren't comin'?"

"Weren't you the one telling us how to get in?" the tall blonde easily mused as he gave a dazed smile over to her with his half joking statement.

Natsu smirked suddenly and inclined her head in a half-nod which the blonde easily responded to with a hum of his own, but her attention had already drifted off. The entire group was patched up with a number of bandages and probably other techniques. It didn't appear rushed but there was evidence that there was some obvious lack of care. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the negligence of the other fourth division members that had done their patchwork. In a huff, she circumvented her captain and the broken Vizard; her steps slightly jumbled as she didn't stop glaring at the slipping bandages on the tall blonde causing her to trip over the uneven ground. As she made her way over, she made out the sounds of them shifting about. She placed her attention only on her own actions as she yanked at the black coat that was covering up his bandages. He pulled his arm away from his chest, giving her better access to the wound, and she made easy work of unfurling and fixing the bandages so that they were properly done.

 _I'mma gonna- Strange group. Whateva. Healin's healin._

 _How compassi-_

 _Shudup._

She went through the entire group, grumbling and fixing all the work that had been done carelessly which included making do with pressing more balm on, sewing at some spots, and rewrapping bandages. Her fingers moved rapidly but with clarity and finesse as she did so, and then she found herself kneeling down slightly by the only vision that she had avoided. If one looked into the sun, they would definitely go blind at some point. Instead, she kept her eyes focused on Yoruichi assessing what was going on with the cat; every now and again glancing at the work she was doing.

Yoruichi was the only one that seemed to have not gotten treated at all. Natsu finished up quickly on the last Vizard and then made her way over the cat, who blinked tiredly up at her. The purplette sat up immediately and Natsu shook her head slightly, letting the cat know it could continue in its lazy position flat along the ground. There were no obvious cuts, although there was already the formation of bruising and strong internal bleeding that she could make out. Thus, there was no need to get Yoruichi moving about when rest was going to be the main cure for her ailments.

She reached into her bag and drew out the bottle again, which she quickly smacked into the cat's lap. Yoruichi looked at the bottle and then tossed a very strong frown with the small traces of her ire going up in a new heat. "Is this going to fucking burn again, Natsu?"

"Nah… It'll feel like prancin' ponies and all tha' shit."

"Natsu-san." Natsu turned back over to her captain who gave her a small glance which had her crossing the distance quickly and standing where the captain could see her; just on the other side of the most injured person. "I think you already know why I brought you back here."

Natsu narrowed her eyes and then let out a long sigh. Much like she had done with all the looks that she had thrown at her from the moment she had been joking with the cat, she had ignored the fluttering reiatsu on the other side of the area. That very recognizable reiatsu she had been trying to avoid because she knew that it was going to prick at the sensations of worry and doubt that she was carrying around, and her joking at alleviated some of the tension in the group which was always a good thing. When she pricked her senses to hone in on the spot, she could already make out the shouts and orders that Yasuchika was probably putting out to stabilize the patient. She was exhausted already from imagining the type of work that she had ahead of her.

"Ya know… Ya always give me tha' hardest cases but then ya go swoopin' an' stealin' all tha credit," Natsu mentioned slowly with a joking jingle on her tongue as her hands fell back into her pockets.

"This is not something I can save."

Natsu narrowed her eyes and there was a tiny uproar from the group that didn't want there old friend to die. The tension that she had tried to unconsciously ease, mounted on again very quickly. She knew the amount of eyes that were crossing the small distance from Unohana to her and back again and back again increased tenfold at that dismal statement from the best healer in the area. It was like feeling lasers along her skin as she tried to remain nonchalant to the worry and anxiety that the group around her was producing. Several pairs of eyes decided to never leave her, wondering if they could trust such a beaten and suspicious looking person. Natsu never reverted to looking at anything but her captain, wondering what type of wounds were awaiting her. The captain never lifted her eyes up to Natsu's own, but she knew enough from the angled head of her superior. It was not in pleading to her but a simple assessment that a limitation had been hit. They, after all, had completely different healing abilities.

Natsu drifted her hands from her pockets to her sides. The seal on her skin seared for just a moment as her zanpakuto began to form. She snatched at the sword quickly once it was fully shaped and by her side. She slipped them away behind her into the sheaths that felt like just another set of skin along the small of her back. The extra cloth that she was wearing was quickly tugged up and drawn away from her hakama pants. She'd need to be as cool as possible, regardless of the amount of skin that she was going to be showing. There was just a small tingle in her head that said she was so happy to have worn durable wraps around her chest.

"Yoruichi," Natsu spoke out as she flung the top over to her. "Why don'cha cova yaself up a little?"

"I should be saying that to you."

"Boke… Don't mention tha' o' I'mma gonna start blushin'." Natsu smirked as she lazily attempted to cover up her chest in faux embarrassment. She watched as the cat only slowly nodded, a mix of regarding her stupid antic and somewhat understanding what was happening, and then put the top on. Natsu vaguely pointed to the bottle in the cat's lap after that. "An' make sure ya go sharin' wit' ya ol' friends."

She saw her specially designed canister being tossed before she looked down at her captain. The woman momentarily gave her a look to communicate. Her eyes fluttered shut for just a small moment, and there was that small urge to open them back up again. Just take a small glimpse at the sun, she could practically heard that whispered about her head. But she pushed that down and shunpoed off to the other side of campus.

* * *

 **A/N: I just wanted to share with you all, in case anybody didn't know,** **Sekhmet is an actual Egyptian goddess from mythology. I did** **my best to carefully investigate about all of what I wrote at the beginning of the chapter about Sekhmet. I may have still gotten some wrong and I probably took license with the Egyptian goddess because even though I devoted time, it's still likely I made mistakes.**

 **I wanted to be truthful to the Egyptian mythology but I also wanted to make sure that Sekhmet fit into the story. I spent a lot of time going through Egyptian gods and goddesses. This was done for specific reasons because I wanted to use the zanpakuto as another means to link and hint at Natsu's history. Sekhmet was very carefully picked out for her own story and her abilities being a warrior and a goddess of healing. In my mind, she is a principle character and therefore I needed to spend some time on understanding the history of the character. I** **n some ways Natsu would not have been born without Sekhmet at all. It was almost relieving to find such a great match, and I'm not sure the story would have even progressed without finding and learning about Sekhmet.**

 **Sekhmet, in an odd way, overlays and blends in with Natsu's experiences and attitudes. I kind of think of her like a direct reflection of Natsu, even though they are also different. I was wanting to explore a different type of relationship between zanpakuto and shinigami given that in _Building a Home_ Yuko and her zanpakuto - Kumo - are closely tied together. In the Yuko-Kumo relationship it is much more about challenging one another and like best friends or companions, egging each other to be better versions of themselves because they kind of share the same dream; Kumo's dream being to fulfill Yuko's dream and in that way fulfill himself, and Yuko's dream to reach the captaincy which she thought ultimately would make her feel more fulfilled... I guess, that's a bit cheesy, but that's kind of how I saw it. **

**Natsu and Sekhmet, alternatively, are so similar they almost hate each other, though Natsu hates Sekhmet much, much more. I do think that hate is a very strong word and probably not nearly nuanced enough to completely understand the relationship that is between them, but it makes up a significant portion of their relationship. I imagined that they saw reflections of themselves in one another, if that makes sense, and that's why there's a bit of animosity - since they didn't want the other to be like them since they knew what could be avoided - but also a tremendous amount of familiarity and love between them. However, due to her history, Natsu is much more reluctant to accept Sekhmet and that leads to a lot of difficulty in how they communicate with one another.** **I hope that that's become pretty apparent throughout the story.**

 **Sorry for all the rambling about this. I got excited and carried away a bit, but it is relieving to talk a little bit about my thoughts about the characters and choices that I made.**

 **Thank you for your continued reading! I hope I'm still living up to all your high standards. Please comment/review/question.**


	44. Chapter 43

"Oi... Is Yuko going to be okay with someone like her?" Kensei grumbled out as his arms tightened around his chest. Among the silent group, he watched, along with the many keen looking faces, as the odd girl's form completely disappeared, before he shattered the calmness with his question. Now that she was far in the distance, he felt more comfortable speaking out against this dictatorial choice that they had been forced to deal with. "I know that she's- ya know… What seat is she anyway?"

Unohana didn't pause in her work as she continued her best to heal up the remaining section of the stomach on her patient. Others may be skeptical, Unohana knew, but she had watched that girl grow as a healer and there were none that could match the expertise that her subordinate had demonstrated. Her next words carried lightly along the back of the wind; afloat with her utmost trust in her subordinate. "She's twentieth seat… However that does not reflect her true abilities. She has only truly maintained that position because she has a bad personality."

"B- Bad personality. Twentieth seat… You sent someone like that over there?" Kensen barked instantly, only to be held back by Love who was the closest to the anger prone silver-haired ex-captain and who stapled a sturdy hand to the angry man's shoulder to keep him from moving. The anger he exuded was the only thing stopping him from recognizing how insulting his comments might have been taken by the rest of the group, even if they never would speak of such things out loud. They all knew this was only a temporary truce and they would be gone soon.

Yoruichi eyed the group slowly as the air around them began to swirl; some indignation, some ire, some patience. Some sort of calamity seemed to surround them as if every next decision was their last. Certainly Yuko was something that was engraved deeply in every single one of them since long before the night that had changed all of their fates. Even with one hundred years of separation, they wouldn't want just anyone dealing with their brethren; particularly one that had sacrificed so much for them to be guaranteed freedom. Yuko held too special of a place to be treated by a "twentieth seat". As Yoruichi found her eyes trailing back to the spot she knew Natsu had disappeared off in, she pondered on this thought. Regardless of Natsu's connection to the group, if the young girl wasn't capable then they'd rather she was not brought into the situation at all. Though she wondered how often they thought of her as connected to themselves.

At first she had been worried that Unohana hadn't known about the strange connection but now she was sure that the old captain did know, and had known for a long time. This wasn't just a test for the group but also for Natsu. Twisted ties be damned. Yoruichi had fleetingly seen the darkening pits in the youngster's eyes. While normally Natsu's eyes contrasted so much that it was hard to tell if the foundation of her eyes was the maple gold color or if it was auburn-brown color, this time they had solidified. There was a boldness that Yoruichi couldn't remember seeing ever before really with such steely resolve that she had immediately felt on guard. That resolve from the younger girl had swept through her like the faint pulses from her heart. It must have come from the long trek of forty-some odd years with Natsu's unwavering attention and boorish, unsteady unyieldingness to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It must have been the same thing that Unohana was pushing for Natsu to finish as well. Otherwise why would she have been adamant of Natsu doing the work even if there was some truth about the skillsets that Natsu possessed.

Yoruichi let out a sigh then and closed her eyes on the image of that one last smirk she had received from the now grown up girl. When she opened them up, she saw the way the group was looking at her. Whether it was because of her sigh or because they simply wanted her input she didn't know; though she gave it anyway. Because she had an opinion that should be heard. "Natsu's good at healing. There's no way that she'll let Yuko go dying on her… No way whatsoever, so have faith in that."

"I know you spent time w-"

"It's not a matter of time." Yoruichi growled out as she left the words hanging in front of her like a thick barricade that stopped all the vizards from making this too sentimental when it really didn't need to be. She understood, better than they were thinking, about the dynamics of the group but she also knew that Natsu was an exceptional healer and that stood above everything else at the moment. "It's a matter of having faith. In both her and in Yuko. Don't tell me that you'd actually think either would try to fail you."

"She doesn't know anything!"

Yoruichi plunged ahead, stating something that was so effortlessly true. Even if she was willing to keep Natsu's secret, one that she had promised to the young girl forty years ago, the cat still knew this would be true. It had always been the unspoken edge that pushed the girl forward whether she admitted to it or not. "You think she would need to?"

"That is enough," Unohana finally spoke out and the violently clattering words stopped immediately between the purplette and the silver haired man, who were the only remaining two that were arguing on the matter. The rest of the group had settled after the harsh words from the cat. "I need a calmer environment to focus on my work. So, if possible, I would like you to refrain from shouting if you feel it is necessary to continue to have this conversation... As ill-founded as I believe it to be."

The group fell silent as they watched Hiyori's face as the blonde squirmed lightly under the administration of the kido and let out a small, quaking groan from her mouth. Unohana pressed forward in her march to heal the woman who was putting up a fight both ways; one side not willing to die, but the other giving into the weight of death. It was this silence that surrounded the group, that acted like a balm to the two rebuffed sides of the argument. In this moment it was quickly recognizable, that much like Hiyori who was fighting between settling and between enduring, they had to resign themselves to the limitations of their capabilities. They didn't need to be happy about it, most certainly they weren't, but arguing with words about a situation they didn't even know how to fight suddenly seemed useless. They could only fight what they knew how to fight, and they had to let others pick up the slack when they didn't know how to anymore. Even if they were not happy with the situation.

"Let me explain my actions so as to set your mind at ease Kensei-san." Unohana put forth very slowly as she kept rapt attention on the ailing girl and stopping the new gush of blood that was coming out. "Do you know exactly what the abilities of Natsu-san's zanpakuto are?"

The group looked between one another as they tried to figure out why the phrase had been proposed as a question and not as a comment about their ignorance to Natsu's abilities. Unohana should just be presupposing that they had no idea who she was or had no idea about any of the abilities that she possessed. It was, after all, their first time meeting officially. There was no way that the captain should have known about their prior meeting in the human world, especially since it seemed so unlikely that Natsu had said anything to the Gotei 13 about her actions. It would have been treason regardless of her actions being taken in war or had been given to her through Kisuke. Therefore there was no good reason for her to have said anything for the punishment would have been severe. However, was the relationship between Unohana and Natsu closer than they had anticipated? How could they respond without it seeming like there was any sort of connection between the group and the young girl?

Yoruichi could see immediately why the captain had proposed it as a question and she knew why the Vizards had frozen at it. Whether or not Natsu had met them prior to this moment, Unohana was aware of Natsu having relations with Urahara and herself for forty years. The captain was assuming that they had kept the Vizards up-to-date about what was going on in Soul Society and the proceedings with Aizen. After all, how could the group have known to come to the war if not. It put her in a tough position in how to answer the question, since the captain was obviously unaware that Natsu didn't want to receive any recognition for her involvement with unmasking Aizen. Natsu didn't want anyone to know her place in all of the events.

Her gold eyes slanted a bit more and she felt a small peace fall over her as she turned the situation around in her head. Kensei had brought up the topic - questioning the abilities of a captain's subordinate - and so therefore had already made it seem like there was no connection before hand. Unohana, thus, was not suspicious of the Natsu-Vizard connection and was not asking the question because of them. However, the Vizards had looked to her because they now knew that Natsu had lodged with Kisuke during her stay on the human world for the mission. That was the amount of time Kensei had been referring to, nothing else, and so therefore they believed that she might be able to aid in the dilemma.

"Heat." Yoruichi finally put forth and the group looked at her with a small question. She merely shrugged. "I asked. She answered."

Unohana let out a small hum which caught the attention again. "Of course she would explain it like that."

"So it's not heat?" Hachi questioned as he thought back on what he had observed outside of the warehouse on that day.

There had definitely been heat involved in some manner when he watched the process of Ichigo's healing. He may not have felt it, but he had seen the smoke, as had the others that had watched the events. It had been interesting to investigate the thin girl who had appeared almost like a ghost. There was another clue to take into account as well. They had collected information on her during the fight that she had in the warehouse district; a fight which they had avidly watched the proceedings of. It was the most entertainment they had seen in years, and they could live vicariously through her as she brought down an enemy that stood in their way. There was obviously heat involved during those circumstances as well, and that had been more visible. It had gone rolling off of her in waves, like how fumes leave a fireplace in the open wilderness, and she had dubbed her abilities to her own opponent as 'heat' during that time, as well.

"It is more that heat is the actual byproduct of her true ability," Unohana stated and her fingers lifted up slightly so that she could get a clean view of her patient's injuries.

The sudden silence from the medic didn't worry them but it gave them only more time to think of burning questions. They knew she would eventually answer their questions as they glanced among one another impatiently as they waited. Yoruichi remained still, riveted with all the attention that a cat gives to yarn, as she finally received the answers that she hadn't for so many years. As long as she had known Natsu, the young Shinigami had never been open to talking about her abilities. Nor had she been open to talking about much of the past, or why at certain points she was ill. Many things could have been coincidence, a reasoning that Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Tessai had used, but there were times when it just appeared too timely every now and again. Hachi, also, remained staunchly looking at the fourth division captain, instead of peering toward the group, thinking of a multitude of possibilities.

He was the first to comment, "it is a byproduct of what exactly?"

Unohana cast him a quick glance as she wiped away at the blood so that her clean hands could get a better grip on the inside of the patient's body. "Natsu's true zanpakuto ability is that of rapid replication."

"Why would that create heat?" Love questioned from his place next to the blonde. "There's no connection between the two."

"In terms of fighting ability it is a bit hard to see the connection… Her katana is able to replicate a single slash three times over after it is fully awakened and in its bloodlust. However why, then, does her body heat up when she is fighting?" Unohana put out the rhetorical question as she moved back to healing the patient. The volume of her words were thrown off due to her movement and the angle of her head, adding to the suspense as the group waited for answers. Maybe it was even done on purpose to not overly expose the secrets, though there was no one else around to hear them talking. "That is because it is not the cut she is replicating but her own reiatsu."

"What?" Lisa breathed out from her slumped position and her hand coming out with a wild gesticulation. She was not the only one in the group to have this reaction but she was certainly the loudest at that moment. "Are you saying that she has ever growing reiatsu?"

"No… Let me explain clearly what happens. When a user releases their zanpakuto, it uses up a certain amount of reiatsu. The very same thing occurs when Natsu-san releases her zanpakuto." Unohana paused slightly as she inspected the next gouge for a moment before continuing on, her sharp eyes narrowing as she moved to plug up the next hole that needed to be worked on. "When a user continues to use their zanpakuto in battle, they will eventually run out of reiatsu until they cannot maintain the released state. The same occurs with Natsu to an extent."

"Her's gets stuck in a type of loop then." Hachi mused out lightly as he tried to imagine the implication of the all the words.

"Somewhat…. What happens is that Natsu expends reiatsu to maintain her zanpakuto which takes a long time to wake up in most normal circumstances. She ends up wasting a lot of reiatsu just to be able to use her zanpakuto's replication technique at its highest level... As this happens her reiatsu is also expanding, which in turns helps - along with the bloodlust which consumes her zanpakuto - to increase the number of cuts that she gives her opponents. But because replication is her true ability, her reiatsu is replicating too fast. Thus producing a heat from her body and a black smoke."

"So she gains back the reiatsu she lost." It was a sentence that ended with a small looped question from Lisa.

Unohana shook her head at the positive assumption which often comes from misunderstanding. The few that were aware of Natsu's zanpakuto had also assumed such a thing at the start. "It it true that it loops back around but she cannot use her zanpakuto or her own reiatsu endlessly. The problem lies in the fact that her body produces too much reiatsu for her own body to stand. She cannot maintain her shikai for very long after it has reached its fully awakened state because if she does, her own body will implode."

"Wh… How's that possible?"

"Let's use the analogy of a lightbulb…. What happens if you put the wrong lightbulb in a socket with too much electrical current?"

"It doesn't work," Love supplied after Kensei's flabbergasted comment.

Unohana nodded slightly though she did give them a pointed look to demonstrate that the phrasing was much too simple and light to truly understand what happens during such an event. The group grumbled slightly and remedied their responses to her question. The wires in the bulb fizzle out because the heat from the electricity melts through it too fast, and then there a pop as the wires finally snap and the electricity goes up against the confines of the glass instead. Sometimes if the burst is strong enough it can shatter the glass casing as well. But, even if the glass remains or is shattered, the overload in wattage leads to a dead lightbulb that will never be able to function again because too much damage was done to the bulbs for the wires to be fixed.

"This has been the problem with Natsu-san's reiryoku from her childhood." Finally, Unohana gave a small glance over her shoulder to the other blonde that had not uttered a single word since Natsu's arrival. "It becomes too large for her body and, in its own way, acts against her body… The process is tripled when she is in shikai for too long or when she uses up too much of her reiatsu in one go."

"Holy shit," Love puffed out as he scratched at his head with as much remorse on his tongue as he could give to a girl that he had never met. "That's really messed. I've never heard of something like that happening."

"There are a few cases every once in a while of cases similar to this… Where reiryoku acts against the users own body. - Initially, when I saw Natsu-san as a small child I thought it had to do with the presence of a strong reiryoku at such a young age when her body was still developing. But it turns out that it is actually the problem of her own spirit and there is no cure for that."

Hachi had plenty of questions that Unohana still hadn't addressed yet but he let the words settle in the group for a moment. After all, it was already a lot of information to handle in one go. It certainly was a horrible thing for a child and now a young adult to deal with; to constantly have to be aware of her reiryoku levels; to not be able to live like the majority. He wondered briefly on how hardworking Natsu actually had to have been able to grow to be as effective as she was. How quickly did she adapt to such knowledge? He had heard only briefly about the worries his quasi-leader had at the beginning of their forced exile, having left the child alone in the Soul Society with no access to the healer. They had all known then that it would be a long time until the small child would be able to function normally, given that it was believed she could grow out of it. Now, though, it was nothing more than another dream that alluded them. For now they knew that she had to deal with it for the rest of her life, and that pain of possibility - to give her a pain free life - was something any parent would have to hold on to even if consciously there was knowledge it was impossible.

"However," Hachi muttered out and got the group back on track, "the implications for her healing are… What exactly?"

Unohana let out another hum as she cleaned her hands again and continued with her ministrations. The silence from the group had been enough for her to get the internal bleeding to finally stop and she could go about healing and filling in the rest of the gash now. Her brows furrowed just slightly as she worked to multitask once again.

"Yes… Well, the basis for the tanto are the same. It is a replication process of the patient's natural healing process three times over which is faster than what both kaido and standard treatment can produce. It's… actually much more durable than what any other medic can do," Unohana murmured out as she continued to make small leeway on finishing the healing process on the blonde beneath her. "If she places the tanto by the injury it only quickens the natural healing process that would take much longer on a person."

"On the Sokyoku Hill then… Those boxes and the coating?" Yoruichi questioned out with the overload of new information. She very much doubted that even Kisuke could have guessed the extent of Natsu's abilities, especially since Kisuke, until recently, had never trained with her. That training had not even been about using the technique so much as increasing her physical durability for whatever reason that needed to have happened. Now Yoruichi could understand why Natsu had adapted such a fighting style to be quick and efficient so as not to tax a quickly overhauling system. "And the water?"

"That is the second part of her healing ability which is the reason I sent her over to Yuko-san… When she places the tanto into the ground by her patient or in a body part, her reiatsu reforms and then replicates into the missing parts for the patient."

"What?" a majority of the group stated.

"Her latent healing ability is like this..." Unohana paused again as she thought of another analogy but quickly came to a standstill. There was no real analogy for it. "If regular healing and kaido are used to help the natural healing process further along, then her tanto when in that second state… Her reiatsu reforms and becomes parts that can actually function with the person's body by replicating everything down to the cell structure."

"Holy shit," Love whispered out again looked over at the direction where Yuko had been taken. The others were also looking with their own whispers along their tongues although they had been too choked up to say anything. "So she does like a carbon copy for the entire body?"

"Yes…. Natsu-san is the only Shinigami in history to have a zanpakuto ability and a reiatsu that can supplant and act for another's."

"Wait, wait… She does what now?" Kensei choppily put forth again. He usually wasn't so dense but he couldn't work out how such a zanpakuto was even possible. "It sounds like you're saying she does that to someon-"

Unohana only gave him a quick look to get the silverheaded man to stop speaking. His jaw fell a bit slackened at the notion that was buzzing around his head and lay unfinished as he watched the captain nod to his incomplete statement. The captain's calm voice washed through the topic effortlessly as they all stumbled to grasp what she was saying. "That is correct. Along with replicating cell structures, Natsu-san also can convert her reiatsu to copy and replicate another's reiryoku at the same time. Thereby building the patient their own reiatsu for them with the cost of losing her own... It is a much more effective manner for healing than reiatsu restoration could ever produce."

Rose let out a small whistle at the impressive ability and nodded along. "That's pretty god-like."

"Of course it's incredibly hard on her own body, like I mentioned," Unohana murmured out again. "Which is why I've constantly reprimanded her for the usage of her seals. If she goes beyond healing two people at once it is not only taxing to her person but also stretches her zanpakuto's ability… Doing so can confuse it which can be disastrous to the patient should they receive something that is not meant for their body."

Yoruichi shivered at the thought and patted down on her chest as if something in her had been transferred out with another's. Now that she thought about it, it did seem dangerous had Natsu been trying to heal anything but cuts. "So on Sokyoku Hill that's what she did."

"Yes… The seals she gave to the five of you were not for protection per say. It was an instant way to heal up injuries... Although initially, she set it up only to get at flesh wounds or another part of the healing process that she commanded. The more reiatsu she pushed for, the more she was demanding for the replication processes to go further than just flesh wounds. Meaning she was giving you her reiatsu to supplant your own healing processes... A very poor decision on her part."

"How'd she get rid of the Homouka from Soi-fon's zanpakuto?" Yoruichi finally felt that small trigger in her head go off as she was sounding off the question. "Did she replicate my reiatsu to overpower it?"

"I haven't studied the case but I would assume it was either that or that your body was rejecting the ability like a type of poison and so was wiping away at it by creating new cells to get rid of the damaged ones," Unohana supplied as she was coming to an end of her healing of the blonde girl. "It's unfortunate that the technique doesn't work fully on Jushiro-san, seeing as his body creates the TB cells much too quickly for even her ability to suppress. She does give him momentary reprieves, though."

"I'd assume the water that we drank then… Was a diluted version of her tanto's abilities?" Hachi put out as he collected the bottle from a very curious Mashiro who looked about ready to destroy it with her fiddling. "I felt the heat, although it didn't seem very strong."

"Natsu-san is always testing how best to help patients on and off the field. The water is just one such byproduct." Unohana praised out with a smile along her lips. "Which is the other reason why I sent her over there seeing as for class 9 and 10 patients she has a ninety percent success rate… And Yuko will not be in that statistic."

"How marvelous~" Rose sung out. "The passion of healin-"

"Shut up Rose. No one wants to hear this right now." Love immediately jammed back with a tiny knock against the blonde's head.

Unohana took her hand away again slowly and then pressed it down onto Hiyori's stomach which had finally sealed over. In the small moment of respite, as she did a final check up on her patient, she increased her senses to feel the stability that was coming from across the campus. Natsu had probably thrown more than a few fits and was grumbling the whole time as she did when she was in surgery with Yasuchika. While they did not work well together outside an operating room, Yasuchika never went against her orders as captain and always fell back to the calls that the bronzed haired woman shouted during those times. Unohana liked to believe that Yasuchika was learning much from Natsu for there was always a grudging understanding of the odd girl's capabilities. They could work effectively if they had to, which only made her sigh when they were never able to do such a thing during other times. If she pressed her senses just a bit more she could already feel Yuko's essence coming to vivid stability; pulsing with life instead of playing tag with Natsu's beckons.

"Indeed. In terms of healing Natsu-san's ability probably… No I would say most certainly they are at the level of my fukutaicho if not higher," Unohana spoke again which gathered the group as it had been more than a few moments since she last stop. Unohana then gestured over lightly to the panting blonde. "She should be fine for the time being."

"Are you saying she might not make it?" Lisa ground out, even in the wake of the small peace of knowing Yuko was in good hands.

Unohana spared a small glance at the woman before rising fully and preparing to go further afield. "Kido is only capable as the same thing as medical treatment. Her body composition is fine and restored fully. If she does not give up on living, then she should eventually open her eyes." She paused briefly as she gave the rest of them a small look with an undiluted seriousness at the situation. "Whether she will give up or not is something that you know better than I do."

"Thanks," Shinji finally spoke out and Unohana paused at the tiny slip of an accent that she had heard in and out for the past forty years. "Unohana-san."

Her head turned back to face the man who had only now spoken although his words should have come out much sooner. "Why exactly are you thanking me?" She received nothing but a small widening in the eyes of the man and her eyes sunk slightly before turning back to the front. "There is no need to thank me for saving the life of an 'ally'."

"We ain't your allies, moron," Shinji practically whispered along his heavy tongue. "Is probably what Hiyori'd say… Thanks Unohana-san."

The sound of her footsteps receded in her own ears just before she stopped and slowly turned around to look at the man who was still propping himself up. His brown eyes went up to her own again and there was a small furrow in his brow as he tried to get the message she wasn't truly sending. She didn't know what she wanted to say exactly, but there was another pang of recognition just as she observed him and the one hundred years of solitude along his face. Brown eyes which looked sunken under weight of the world and hunched, boney shoulders that looked so familiar. Perhaps in time she would finally be able to rid herself of that look from the two pairs of eyes that were, as she now realized, very reflective of one another.

"I suppose that that second thank you was…. More deserving of a 'you're welcome'." Unohana gave a tiny nod to her words. "Although it's a true pity you think it is me that should be receiving such words at all."

* * *

 **A/N: There it is! The truth behind Natsu's zanpakuto and the connection to her illness. I was always curious if there were such illnesses in Soul Society, so I just decided that I would have to put it in there, and I thought it fit well with Natsu... If there are any questions don't be shy in asking them. I did my best to explain everything out, but sometimes it's clearer in my head and not so much when I write it down.**

 **Thanks for sticking with me until now! We're finally entering the last arc of this particular story and the final chapters with Natsu's journey.**

 **And just to keep you all updated, the Kisuke story is still in works. Are people still interested in reading it? Maybe you're all sick of me by now... Hopefully not! Anyway, when the last chapters of _Dynasty_ start coming up, I'll make sure to post about it but keep your eyes peeled. Let me know how you're feeling with how everything is going and if you'd like to read a Kisuke story. **


	45. Chapter 44

Natsu was making a lazy trek with her feet slumbering beneath her as if she was pulling them after the rest of her body. A small ditty fell along her lips as she continued to hum out or whistle the tune that circled around her head, almost as if her mouth was the drain and her brain the unstoppable faucet. Her hands stuffed down into her pockets, an easy weight by her sides, with her fingers loosely pressing into her own palms. She let her head drift from side to side in a gentle rock before switching it to an up and down motion which better served the tempo that she wanted to use.

"Da… Dum, dum, da. Dum, dum." Her voice came out slowly as she started the vocalization of the how the trumpets would sound off in the song. Her brain could make up the rest of the instruments and her feet were the consistent tap of the drum beat.

Her head was covered from the burning sun as she slithered her way in from the courtyard and into the buildings she had aimed for. She glanced slightly over at the curious consideration and the furrowing faces, the look of noticing an unsuspected intruder in their space, before a slight recognize passed through them. Each time this happened, they gave brief nods and gestured her through with silent movements of their face or waves of their hands. She would have proceeded anyway, regardless of their want for to be there or not, but it was nice that they weren't going to give a hassle and she wouldn't have to speak to them in any way.

She trespassed up the stairs, and while she was taking two stairs at a time, she managed to do it with a consistent, slow push from each of her thighs as she didn't disrupt the melody in her head. Her arms remained resolutely inside her pockets as she made quick work of the obstacles in her way as her muscles burned from the short amount of work that she had to do. When she reached flat ground again, she began her fumbling walk once more with her feet easily giving their energy over to the ground to push them ahead. They had already done enough work by getting her up to the second floor, and they wanted to sleep again.

She turned the corner and abruptly stopped her meandering ditty along with her sloth-like walk. Her eyes blinked quite a few times at the sight of the thirteenth division captain and his two stalkers, tucked up against the wall outside of the Sou-taicho's office. Their knees were pulled up to their chests and their arms loosely wrapping around their legs or their hands resting on the knee caps. Each stared resolutely forward with expressions she couldn't make out, though they looked oddly at peace as they were listening in on whatever was going on inside the office. Just as she was about to move forward again, she and the three others jolted as they heard the outrageous pour that scattered the peace and collective calm that surrounded them.

 _Shit… 'E's in a bad mood._

Natsu let out a small sigh and made the gamble of going closer to door. As far as she knew, the old man didn't believe in corporeal punishment anymore, and having lost his arm, he was on "bed rest" so to speak. She had asked for the meeting with the old man anyway. It had been a pain to organize a time with the geezer. With it being only the tenth day since the recovery process started, there was a lot of work to do. While Seireitei, itself, hadn't taken a beating, with the Fake Karakura Town being in the far outskirts of Rukongai, it was the turmoil of the war and the events proceeding the outbreak that people were finally dealing with. It was a difficult time for the structure of the Soul Society; just not really in the physical sense. Some were in mourning, whilst others were touchy and constantly ready to snap at someone. Everyone seemed to still be in an uproar, and there was a cautious silence in self censorship to not set anyone off. Particularly those of the third, fifth, and ninth divisions. They had remained eerily silent and in some ways were dealing with excommunication from Soul Society. Natsu wasn't sure if that was self-induced or not.

"Hello Natsu-chan," Ukitake spoke softly with a slim smile coming along his face and his eyes fogging up in a dazed expression. His eyebrows nearly disappeared in his white fringe as he made a tiny adjustment to his head. "It's nice to see you walking about."

Natsu ticked her head away from having to look upon the cuteness of the man, a small grumble leaving her lips as she did so. He looked so oddly content to be sitting outside whilst the old man was letting out terrific shouts to whoever was inside. When she took another peak from the corner of her eyes, his wide eyes blinked a few times, having never left her figure, before he gave her another smile. It would have been alright, a cold thin press covering her own lips as she tried to politely smile back but then he titled his head and she had to look away. He was oozing out flowers and pink bunnies and she visible flinched as she slid a bit further away from him. She really should have been accustomed to his behavior, but not even forty years could get her acclimated to such behavior. How a man of his stature could act so simple and nice was beyond her processing capability.

It was true that she had been cooped up in the fourth division for the past ten days straight, with little time to even get out into the fields that she enjoyed so much. Not that she thought anyone would notice such a thing. She wasn't allowed to fall into a deep sleep because she was constantly watching out for Yuko, even though there was little evidence that the woman would crash and suddenly splutter out. Unohana had tried to get her on a rota so that another Shinigami could take the position. Her captain wanted to give her a chance to rest up since she, herself, hadn't fully recovered from her own injuries. She had adamantly refused and had blandly suggested she'd lock the surgery room door again if Yuko was taken from her care. Unohana stopped bugging her after that and left her to do what she thought was necessary.

Yuko was stable on the sixth day which gave Natsu a reprieve from being in the room with her 24 hrs a day. On the seventh day, Natsu had finally gotten the last of her patient's wounds taken care of and the reiatsu stabalized that Natsu could finally conclude the larger treatments. This, however, left Natsu in a precarious position where her body was walking a very thin line trying to prevent itself from going off into the deep end. Her sleep was disrupted and she was having trouble keeping food and liquids down because of the surges in her reiryoku and all the heat that radiated from her. Nonetheless she was up on her feet and helping around where she could, though no one would ever say she did anything. She kept all the work under that invisible blanket that people always walked by.

"Ya lookin' good, cap."

Ukitake let out a small sound as he smiled again. "Thanks to all the help from Retsu-san and the fourth division. How is Yuko-chan doing?"

"Ain't wakin' yet but she's fine." Natsu nodded slightly and leaned up against the fencing on the opposite side of the hall. "Cap's got 'er in a medical coma fo' a bit ta keep 'er from wakin' an doin' mo' damage… 'Cause ya know, 'er seals were released harshly an' then she was fightin'."

"That's relieving," the man whispered out with his eyes finally opening up and brown eyes looking blessed to see the sun that was actually streaming outside.

The excitable blonde woman by his side pumped her fisted hands up and down as she proclaimed, "see captain. Things are going back to normal."

"They'll be better than normal, captain." The other man spluttered as he raised his voice higher than the other.

Natsu blinked at the competition that they tussled in. Ukitake was only watching with an embarrassed chuckle leaving his lips and a tiny scratch at his cheek with one of his long fingers. When his eyes moved back to her, she raised an eyebrow to which she got a small shrug from the man. The small scratches against wood, which were like the echoing, competitive words, were the only thing between them as they stared at one another. Natsu went lax against the fence and gave a slow nod as she welcomed the new acceptance to the weird third seat combo he had.

Ukitake opened his mouth slightly only to be interrupted by another loud yell from indoors. Their group went rigid at the fervor in the shouts that demanded for the group to have more respect for the Gotei 13 and everything that captains stand for. Symbolism. Natsu let out a small snort as she shook her head from the old man's gravelly tone that was growing increasingly louder. Something, something, something, blah, blah, blah. The only interesting information was that the geezer's rowdy group was captains. Then there was an abrupt silence.

Natsu looked over at the white haired captain and raised her eyebrow again to beckon him to use the small advantage of the quiet to voice what he wanted. He smiled slightly as he spoke out, "what brings you here, Natsu-chan?"

"Meetin' wit' tha ol' man."

"I hope you're not in trouble," Ukitake put out sympathetically as his brows furrowed. "Your actions during the war ended up not being any problem at all."

Natsu shook her head slightly in immediate denial to what he was assuming. "I asked fo' it."

"Oh."

The door opened up just then and she saw the small troop that had been on the receiving end of the rant. Seeing the three captains she could see why the old man had gone on about the importance of symbols, since all three of them were missing their captain haoris and looked collectively rather apathetic toward the notion in their own ways. She snickered slightly under her breath at the nonchalant faces that were coming toward them, which was met with Ukitake's own amusement at the situation.

Kenpachi was an obvious case since he had never cared for order and only appreciated violence, so his deadpan was acceptable as his large body passed right by them. Kuchiki's face was still in that immovable mask. There seemed to be a resignation at the castigation although there was always an immediate rebuffing of such notions due to his noble pride. Kyoraku's thoughts were spread throughout his doppy smile and the amused twinkle in his eyes. It was almost as if he really had just decided to not sleep through the meeting just to see what would happen. He let out his own chuckle as he stopped right by Ukitake, whilst the other two captains proceeded on their way back to their divisions.

"Yama-jii certainly is riled up," Kyoraku let out in a half whine as he picked at his sleeves with a small pout. "I really need a back massage after that."

Natsu puffed out her last chuckle as she gave the man a smirk, who blinked at her as innocently as possible. "Ya don't look tense at all, cap."

"But I am, Natsu-chan. I am…. If only Yuko-chan was here, she'd believe me." Kyoraku pouted again with his pointer finger going between both Ukitake and her. "Between the two of you, I receive no sympathy."

"You're never stiff, Shunsui," Ukitake put out blandly as he got up to his feet. "And Yuko-chan would only slap you over the head for that comment."

Natsu pushed up from the fencing and flicked a few fingers through her fringe before smoothing it back down. "Speakin' of… Unohana's openin' up vistin' rights tomorra if Yuko 'olds out ova night, which is very likely... She won't be 'wake yet but ya can 'least see 'er."

The chocolate of the man's eyes grew just that much sweeter as his smile came out long and wide with his teeth making it out to glisten in the sunlight. He clapped down hardily on Ukitake's shoulders and the two men grinned at one another. Natsu looked between them at the eager expressions and the light that seemed to radiate between them, almost as if they were young, school boys and not the old, hardened captains that had seen more than they let on. Her eyes fluttered down to the ground slowly and she let them bask in their semi-private state. It was awkward to be an interloper on people's happy moments. Even more so when it staunched the blood that whistled down her own veins.

"Thank you very much Natsu-chan."

Natsu turned her bland expression back up to the brown haired captain and prompted waved away his words with a hand. Her eyes flickered off to the side as she spoke, "ain't needin' no thanks fo' tha'."

"You're so humble~" The man twittered out as he waggled a finger. "You really should accept our thank yous."

"Wha'eva… I got a meetin' ta get to so I'll see ya when I see ya."

Natsu felt the trail of their gazes on her form as she moved along to the door that held the old man in the confines of his room. She could make out Kyoraku whispering something to Ukitake, but their feet were leading them away shortly after, followed only by the small trickle of Ukitake's subordinates behind them. Her own feet moved in the opposite direction, taking her right up to the door where she could still make out the heat from the blazing lecture that the old man had just given. She let out a small grumble and then knocked on it. Though they were quick knocks, they echoed with a deep vibration that carried around her from the thickness.

"I's Kotomi Natsu… I'mm- Okay ta enta?" She wanted to make a joke but quickly decided that it probably wouldn't be taken well by the old man and in the worst case get a lecture of her own shoved into her face.

"Come in."

She slowly pushed the door open, and peeked her head in just slightly with just the top of her head peering around the thick barricade. The old man was already sitting down and there was a tray of tea ready and waiting, although it looked like he was just getting the pot of water boiling. His red eyes immediately snatched at her form and he merely gave her a tiny glance before settling his eyes elsewhere; giving attention to his more pertinent task at hand. A gulp traveled down her throat at the demand that was in that mere flicker of his eyes and then proceeded through, clenching her teeth to stop any comments. There was still that air of him just about to snap and her rambling wouldn't help the situation at all.

The man set off with getting the tea assembled. His movements were slightly jarred as he was still trying to figure out how to do everything with just one arm. However, no matter the amount of age and the habitual thought and sense of using two arms, he was still a seasoned warrior. He was quickly adapting to the new circumstances. His own brain was keen and fastened on to how to figure everything out and from what she knew, he had been very ungrateful to any of the help that his subordinates had tried to give him. Unohana had not been happy to hear that he was walking and giving out orders merely hours after her inspection.

"Do all children lack manners?" The man put out gruffly as soon as she was seated on the cushion. She blanched at the question. Unsure how to respond the old man continued with what he was going to say, "you should offer to help a feeble old man."

 _Fe- Feeble?_

 _Is this a type of joke, Natsu?_

 _…. I ain't got no idea. I's creepin' me out though._

Natsu waved her eyes over the scene the old man was performing before her and the quickly whistling teapot. Her eyes bounced from the spot to the unmoving elder and then slowly pointed to the heated canister. "Ya wan' me ta get tha fo' ya?"

"If you would."

Her body twisted to put as much distance between her and the old man that had seemingly gotten odder over the course of the war; a small tea table between them was not enough to protect her. Her arms reached out long, crossing in front of the old man slightly as the boiling pot of water was close to his left side, and collected the pot in her two hands. Her fingers tightened along the cloth at the top of the handle and as her fingers coiled it gave her strength to go through the motions of getting the tea out. She had to do it very slowly so as to make sure that none of the water would slop up the sides of the cups that she was pouring it into, like the old man had previously done during their prior meeting.

The old man let out a small hum as he watched her before quipping, "Yuko was much better at this."

"Well soon ya can get 'er ta do it fo' ya," Natsu supplied blandly at the weak remonstration she had received. "She'll been on 'er feet soon."

"Wonderful."

Natsu sank back to her normal posture as she set the pot back down on the burner. She hadn't noticed it before but all the powder for the tea was already in the cups. In the burning, translucent liquid it was fusing out into a green color that soon would over take what used to be just simple hot water. She made out the small clinks of a spoon against the glass, and raised her eyes just enough to find the old man was twirling the liquid so that it would all combine together. Swiftly she replicated the actions until she had a dark green color in her cup, instead of the spiral strands of speckled substance that it had previously been.

"Now then," the old man grunted after he had taken his first sip, "what is it you wished to speak about."

Natsu cleared out her throat just a little bit as her fingers tapped gently on the sides of the cup. "I was hopin' ya could get me a hearin' wit' tha Central 46."

The words traveled through the ocean of silence on the soft waves that kept them a float. Two red eyes opened to see through the dark mass of moving water and peer at her. They both were set a drift on a small raft that those words created. However, the ocean grew turbulent and the words were sunk down deep to be lost in the suddenly treacherous waters. The two of them were treading waters as best they could to stay a float, but Natsu soon found herself slowly being taken under. Her eyes glanced down immediately under the weight of the room and she sunk a bit in her own frame in a way that was not normal to her body. His steady red eyes remained fastened on her pushing her to sink further and further.

"Under normal circumstances I would immediately reject your request. However…" Natsu peered up at the small falter. The red eyes caught her in their trap as he made a quick search, trying to get to her own brain and figure out what she was up to. "If I am to get you an audience then I wish to know exactly what it is you want to discuss with them."

Natsu swallowed again and a grimace came along her face as she flickered her eyes around as if it would hold off the inevitable confession. She ground down as she looked back over at him and then nodded as if he had made an assumption she was agreeing with. "I wanna present new evidence tha' I 'ave collected to perm'ently revoke tha forma punishments."

"This is what you wanted with Aizen Sousuke's lab then?"

"Ya."

The old man breathed in heavily and let it out in a grunt to clear out his throat. He shifted just slightly and let out a jumbled murmur that she couldn't decipher. His voice cleared up instantly, however, as he spoke again. "I'm going to have you be very clear with me Kotomi Natsu. What punishments are you speaking of exactly?"

"The wrongful imprisonment and condemnation of Ayake Ichiyuko, and the condemnation and exile of the three former captains now in the human world." Natsu spoke out very clearly as she held his eyes with her own. "Additionally, the execution orders of the eight former captains and lieutenants that were hollowfied and forced into exile."

It was a test, she knew. It was a test to see if she could hold herself up rigidly and properly enough to be in the courtroom. There was no way that he would ever let her trespass into their territory if she fell and crumbled at what was just his small barricade. There was a decorum that she would need, which thankfully she could pull out when absolutely necessary; although most would think she had no concept of how to act properly. The measure in the red eyes seemed to heighten and he gave a tiny nod as he munched on his thoughts before he was going to speak again.

"As I thought," the old man finally murmured out and she let out a small nod in acknowledgement. "Let me make it clear to you now, that should you be granted an audience with them you will have to be absolutely flawless. They will judge you, just as much as the evidence that you will present."

"I -"

The old man grunted and her words cut off as her eyes narrowed down against the hard look he was sending her. "You should only act on the half of the name that you are presenting yourself to be. Your own bias will be brought into question."

"Jeez… It ain't got nothin' ta do wit' tha. Ma name's Kotomi Natsu." Natsu grumbled out with a tiny spit of fire against the old man.

"Very well." His voice immediately slackened off and his eyes fell shut as if he was trying to really transform into the old man he pretended to be. "I'll send you a message once I receive a reply from them… Now, how do you like this tea?"

* * *

Natsu let out another grumble as she was forced to go to the other side of campus. The old man had kept her far longer than she had anticipated. The problem with old men was that they really could go on and on with stories and this one, in particular, seemed to have a whole lot to share with her. However, he did pass along a bit of information about the more recent court cases which she hadn't been privy to. It would be useful going forward since she had gotten a decent idea of how the judges had been ruling over the past forty years or so. Even with though the new Central 46 would be different, after all it was a whole new body from the old congregation, it was still necessary to have an understanding of the history of the cases. The Central 46 would be using that as a standard of how to move forward with proceedings, and she could already imagine how viciously they were going to scrutinize the evidence and her testimony. Acts of vengeance were not a good thing to get between.

Her feet paused in their dedication to her slumbering walk as she took in the front gate. Along the long, white wall, suddenly jutted out two new peninsulas that were decorated with stones at the very bottom, and then moved up to the smooth white again. The only other decoration was the black paint that symbolized the number twelve on each one of the peninsular walls. Where the wall should have actually continued were dark brown doors which were always kept closed. The top of the doorway was covered in a yellow-gold, canape. It was as garish as most people anticipated from the outlandish, blue captain.

"Thi' is Kotomi Natsu. Fourth division. Requestin' permission ta speak ta a higha up," she spoke toward the door which stayed firmly shut.

Suddenly a screen popped up, as if hanging from a thread connected at the two walls. The screen took up almost half of the entire doorway in size, and hung in just the right spot so she only had to tilt her head back just slightly to make sure that she could see everything. A face emerged from the black that it had once been. He was a young man with short yet spiky brown hair. It was fashioned over towards the left side of his face, with a deep part that zig-zagged across his scalp. Oddly, there were three small horns that protruded from his forehead, which were deviating attention from the fact that he also had no eyebrows. His eyes were slim as he scrutinized her for a moment before he opened them up slightly. His face, however, remained stoic.

"I'm third seat Akon. We've requested no assistance for the fourth division so I'm assuming that you're here for something else." There was a small query just on the top of his tongue as he blinked down at her.

Natsu gave a small nod and rubbed at the back of her neck. "I was hopin' ta talk ta ya cap."

"That's impossible," Akon immediately put forth and his head tilted over to the side when there was some skittering off screen that only he could see. Natsu could just make out some sounds in the background before he began to speak again, "he's in Hueco Mundo at the moment so anything you want to clear up with him will have to wait, Kotomi-san."

"Ain't there a way ta patch me through? Won't be nothin' but a short conversation."

"He asked for nobody to disturb him during his investigations."

"Well, 'less ya can give me that obsavational microbs ya put on tha tenkai ketchu pilla's wit'out 'is consent I'mma gonna 'ave ta speak ta 'im."

"Now why would I ever give you such a thing?" Kurotsuchi's voice suddenly imposed itself in the air as his face filled up half of the screen. Akon blinked several times as he took in the new intervention but then turned his attention more fully back to her with what appeared to be a more keen look. After all, how had she gotten his very busy captain to appear? "You can stay Akon… I might have to order you to get rid of this vermin for me."

Natsu smirked slightly and stuffed her still raised hand back into her pockets. "I'mma in need of tha stuff ya put on ma towers."

"Not your towers. My towers."

"I 'elped ta creat-" Natsu stopped herself as she saw his eyes beginning to role around in other places and she knew she had lost him. It was a pointless fight, not that her pride was not wanting to argue the case, but, really, it would serve better to have him calmer. "I need tha videos of tha figh' as evidence fo' tha Central 46."

Kurotsuchi stopped his weird rolling eyes and turned them back so that they were fixated on her. One long finger almost broke through the screen as he thrust it in her direction. "What ever makes you think you'll get a hearing with the Central 46?"

"'Cause tha ol' man's gonna get it fo' me." Natsu shrugged out the words like she did her shoulders.

"I have no idea what you could possibly do with such evidence but it would be useless in your hands nonetheless, so I—"

"Ya probably don't know this but tha Kotomi House 'as been round longa than tha establishment o' tha Gotei 13." Natsu cut through and her eyes half hooded as she looked at him with a growing smirk. "We were once par' o' tha Central 46 an' had more than thirty gen'rations 'as judges."

Kurotsuchi's hand fell down to his side and he leaned in slightly to the frame as if inspecting something under the microscope. His teeth protruded slightly as he continued to look at her, before his eyes slanted. "Regardless of that, I shouldn't have to remind you tha-"

"See I 'ad this feelin' ya would do this." Natsu mused through as her head titled slightly more up to him so that he could see her large grin. "So I'mma let ya in on a secret… I did steal stuff 'bout hollowfication from Aizen's lab."

"You-"

"An' betta yet tha' stuff's gonna be used as evidence in ma case. So if ya don't wanna lose it, 'cause i's gonna be stuck in Central 46 vaults aftawards, then…"

Natsu narrowed her eyes further as the captain only flipped his head away and leaned away from the screen. His words were spoken out slowly and blandly with nothing of the inflection she had hoped for. "I have no need for whatever you stole."

"Really… Not even tha stuff on tha Vizards? - I's o' no interest ta ya?"

"None." Kurotsuchi slickened out as his gold eyes turned to her in boredom. "I have already collected enough data from the war."

Natsu gritted her teeth slightly and ducked her head down to the pavement. Then she found her head rolling up all the way and looking up at the sky. It had darkened significantly from her time with the old man, but it was still very bright. It was only now that she could see the clear differences from this one and the fake one that Aizen had created. The heat from the blare of the sun which touched down straight through her clothes. The way that the air swiveled around to enhance the radiance of everything that it was touching. The luxury which was how vivid the colors were of the blue above her, and how they changed under the different reflections of the suns' rays.

"Well then, if that's all. I-"

"Ya don't care 'bout Gotei 13." Natsu tore through the dismissal that was being flung her way. The two men on the screen blinked several times, but she focused solely on how Kurotsuchi had paused every single cell in his body. "Ya a scientist so ya only care how much info it can give ya… This system is only somethin' fo' ya inspection as are all tha pieces in it."

His face slowly aimed back at her. Not in that keen inquisition, or amusement that she had toted out a half-assed theorization. It was in a deadly sort of interest that she had hit the nail hard on the head. His teeth were out in the open again, with their lacquered yellow color, and his lips were tucked just slightly in the corner. His eyes made a slow rove and narrowed down to grasp exactly what she was saying.

He tucked just a bit closer to the screen and spoke, "what purpose does that observation hold?"

"If I win then there's a 33% chance this system will change," Natsu declared as she kept herself locked with the scientist. "33% chance means tha' what'eva ya been seein' fo' tha past 'undred 'ears will change pretty drastically, yeah? New subjects ta see, new reactions ta test, new somethin' tha a scientis' like ya wouldn't wanna pass up."

A small amount of static came through and he was leaning back enough that she could make out the dark interior of the storage room she had been in before. Her eyes took only a small moment to observe the blackness before they flashed over to the man that was ruminating. His fingers were letting out a slow tinkle as they were tapping together with his gold eyes staying firmly placed on her like she was in a test tube suddenly sprouting out a new reaction for him to watch.

"Very well." Both of them - Akon and her - jerked at the sudden reappearance of his voice from the monotonous drone of static. Natsu looked briefly over at Akon who had gained his composure much faster. "Akon deliver over copies of the war to this bug… And you-" His finger thrust down to her. "I will never see your face by the twelfth division again."

"Ain't like I really wanna be 'ear." Natsu grumbled out as her eyes tucked off to the side. She sagged down into her body again and shuffled her hands away into her pockets. "Glad ya saw it ma way though."

"I didn't see anything vermin… The prospect of change, as you surprisingly put, is intriguing to a scien-"

"Wha'eva… I really 'ate when ol' men start talkin'," Natsu choked out as she nudged her eyes halfway back to the screen but still refused to look at him. "Thanks, though."

The screen went black immediately and Natsu snorted at the petulance of the captain. He had disappeared like the very words were a new disease that he hadn't created immunity to. Only a child would storm off in the middle of receiving compliments or thanks for a deed, just like that. She'd never get along with someone like that anyway, so she only shrugged it off as Akon tried to sigh out a half-hearted apology.

"I'll collect the information for you Kotomi-san and get it delivered to you at the fourth division, so you don't have to wait here."

Natsu gave a small nod and then with a flick of her hand she began her slumbering walk all the way back over to the fourth division.


	46. Chapter 45

The way the Central 46 worked was that they obtained information about the cases from outside sources, usually from higher ups that were reporting for their lower members or for themselves. The Central 46 members were supposed to remain anonymous which is why they were never tasked with gathering information themselves. They relied on reports from others. Evidence was handed in practically anonymous with only the giver's written explanation of the case and the name of the accused and then it disappeared into the vaults of the Central 46. The forty men and the six judges then gauged the evidence that they received for an undisclosed amount of time. Depending on the sentencing that they wanted to pass, those convicted of the felony would either be brought before the 46 people for questioning or they were not.

The interrogation would go as followed: the convict would remain steadfastly quiet unless they were directly responding to a query set forth by one of the six judges before them. Though the other forty members were in the room to watch the proceeding, they too remained silent, leaving everything to the six judges. However, the questioning almost never weighed in on the final sentence that the judges and the other forty had already come to. The interrogation was already made with certain questions in place so as to basically impose a base line of assumption to the answers that the convict may put forth. They, after all, had no compassion for anyone that broke the laws and only ever saw acts of treason within the evidence. There was no gray area; either abide or be punished.

This particular detail was not commonly known. Information coming out of the Central 46 was not easily accessed. Those who did know about it, while they considered it unfair, had no ability to do anything about it. Striking down the system was not something easily done as those who attempted soon found out. Ousting from certain positions were more common back during her predecessors' time when the system was so new, and it occurred so frequently that most people stopped trying to make claims of corruption. Now it was almost impossible to be anything close to an "upstart" in the system. Attempts were met with "claims of fraudulence", or "neglect of position" at even a whisper of dissidence, and Natsu had to wonder if maybe such claims were actually just ploys. After all, there was no one to oversee the court system, so any claims were dealt with internally. Not such a good thing for changing the system. If even one person in a more powerful station didn't want it to change it would never happen. And the only reason Natsu knew about any of this was because of her family name, and the many journals that her predecessors had kept about their thoughts on the Central 46. Never had they spoken out about witnessing injustices, making them complacent to them in her mind, but they had them recorded as if words silently written in the dead of night could rally up their thoughts about such deeds. Needless to say, her predecessors never did anything.

Central 46 almost never took requests. They hardly allowed for hearings about evidence. Even less likely was the idea that she would actually be able to get a follow-up hearing about prior indictments, particularly when the Central 46 had so much to lose. Should they be seen as the true culprits, having given Aizen leeway so many years ago, even this new set of forty-six would have their rational questioned. Not as an individual, but as an organization meant to counter treasonous offenses in the Soul Society. Perhaps, they would even be seen as in contempt of the very positions that they held. Their legitimacy and competency was on the rocks.

It was the exact reasoning that would make them follow through with a hearing, ironically. There had been such a demand for information that Central 46 decided to broadcast information about Aizen's case to the rest of Soul Society. He had confessed, of course, to crimes committed over a course of one hundred years. Some crimes many were slowly becoming aware of and other ones that were more obtuse and secret that even she hadn't been prepared to hear about them. He had fooled everyone. He was sentenced and the information was kept on public record. Central 46 was also given penance for being caught by Aizen's technique. They were victims as much as everyone else.

It was because they were given this "victim" status - seen as equally condemnable to fault - that the Central 46 had the ability to change. Since the Central 46 was now made up of all fresh faces, for the first time since the conception of the court system, not only were they accountable to the former proceedings and actions, but they were also at a great advantage for creating a new face. "Victim" status gave them this opening. The rules may not have changed necessarily, but the people certainly had. There was no way for the new group to act as if former mistakes hadn't occurred, and, more importantly, new minds also brought in new assumptions and interpretations. In this way, they could demonstrate a new forum and new way of leading. They didn't need to look shallow, half-hearted, or, even, compassionate. The transparency from the Central 46 was about restoring faith in their clarity and wise decision making ability whilst demonstrating reverence for the laws being upheld correctly. Nullify any dwindling reputation they may have procured, whilst re-instating dominance of the situation.

Therefore getting a hearing wasn't necessarily going to be the hard part if the information had to do with Aizen and atrocities that he had committed. What was more difficult was getting a twentieth seat into the Central 46 and before those that spoke directly on the behalf of the Soul King and the four noble families. That needed someone like the Sou-taicho's direct approval and intimidation factor. If that old man wanted Natsu to say her piece, then the Central 46 would listen to it. Whether they would hear and do anything with the information was another thing altogether. In addition, it required a bit more strategic planning and a very firm dedication to how to speak to them, not to mention the old man's constant overbearing nature.

Even when the audience had been granted to her, after a long week of waiting, she then had to fill out a form. It was a new insistence, apparently, from the words of the Sou-taicho himself who had never seen the form before. It wasn't so much that it was new that bothered Natsu, it was the vague questions that did her in. Natsu spent a long time deliberating over how she wanted to phrase everything. She took extra precautions by even getting the Sou-taicho to look over the form and make apt changes so that she wouldn't get caught in some strange loophole they might create. After all, even if the Kotomi house had a good reputation that did not mean she really had any experience with court procedures. Her own appearance was evidence enough to that.

In the form, it mandated that she make note of all the cases she wished to refer to or that may have any relevance to the evidence that she would submit. Then she had to do the arduous task of numbering out all the evidence and listing what exactly it would be used for and how she would be talking about it in the hearing. The evidence didn't need to be submitted just yet, though soon after she found herself making copies of everything to keep for herself should they call for it early, but for the form's purpose everything had to be put down in writing. At the end of the day, it was essentially a first draft of what she would actually be saying in the court room.

After the form was given back to the Central 46, Natsu locked herself up in her room other than for resources like food and water, the bathroom, bathing room, and a bit of sunlight - namely at the dusk and dawn. Unohana had received her silent request to be taken out of all rotas and caring for any patients that came in, in addition to just not appearing in the fourth division. Natsu assumed that the Sou-taicho had spoken with the lady captain, because when she had all but demanded in three words time away, with no mention of what she was doing, Unohana had easily accepted the situation.

She had some equipment wheeled into her room so that she could go through the video footage or to scramble out what Aizen wrote or took down. Other than that, she worked with pen and paper and a heavy textbook the Sou-taicho had given her with all the rules and proceedings that the Central 46 adhered to. She had three separate cases, although all of them were inexplicably linked, but she had to find definitive ways to untangle them so that the Central 46 could look at them both individually and together. It was made a bit difficult since she didn't have the exact case files, meaning she didn't have the exact reasoning the Central 46 had given for their verdicts, but she made her way around it.

The way she ended up planning it all out was by decorating her three walls, barring the one that had the window in it. She copied out sentences three times over at certain moments and would post them up along her walls. When she grew tired of doing that, she literally was tying string from one end of the room to another. It created a weird obstacle course that she had to maneuver her way through most of the time, but with such thought and hyper focus to her movements her blood would start pumping again and she could stay awake for long periods of time.

Her connections to each case grew more and more solid with passing time, and the time line that she was going to use was steady. Yet, in a way, she found herself being able to argue out each case individually as well. She drafted out her words more than fifty times as she found loops in her own writing as she endlessly went through the cases and connected them back together.

Her final step was getting testimonies which she did through voice recordings. There were only four that she absolutely needed to get. Sou-taicho had given it easily as had Unohana. However, both Kyoraku and Ukitake were too confused by what was going on and it had taken a bit of convincing because she had explained everything in a roundabout fashion. She was sure they had some idea of what was happening biting in the backs of their heads, although they didn't want to make assumptions about what she was doing. She didn't know if they were trying to not get their hopes up or they were wishing that the cases would just blow over without Central 46 doing anything.

When she was done collecting and positioning her testimony, she keeled over exactly where she had always been working. Her head dropped along the hardwood floor of her room and she gathered stability from the cool, ground pushing up against her. She bowed down to the strengthened vengeance served to Aizen. Natsu finally picked her head up to those papers and wandered around the mess she had made of her room. Two months had passed unseen in her obsession with being caged away in her room, but in a strange way she still did know that time had passed. It had passed in herself and the absolute silence of her room which lacked even her own presence as the papers seemed to live more truthfully in the four walls than she ever had before.

Her finger slowly went over to the small cage that she kept her personal hell butterfly in. It was one that was given to her by the Sou-taicho to communicate back and forth, when it was impossible to cover the distance to get to the first division barracks. Her finger undid the small lock and it immediately scampered onto her finger. It kept readjusting, wings constantly fluttering about, as she brought it up to her face. She leant back, settling her butt on the arm of her chair and slinging backwards so that her lower back had some support. For the first time she relaxed along the wood as a wave of exhaustion collected along her bones.

"Tell the ol' man," Natsu growled out before clearing her throat, and getting back to the message, "tha' 'e can go an' tell tha Central 46 tha' I 'ave finished collectin' all ma evidence an' I'mma gonna be ready ta present it ta em in a week's time."

She shifted from the chair and got up so that she could open up the window. As soon as the wind touched the butterfly's wings, it was fluttering off. At first it was hit by the hard knocks and backtracked into her, but then it was jumbling as it went up and down with the air streams. Natsu leaned heavily into the ledge, with her arms going over the edge and hitting against the stone wall. Her head knocked over to the side as she watched the trees breeze around.

 _I'mma gonna sleep now._

 _What will you do tomorrow?_

 _I'mma gonna get ta practicin'… An' I gotta figure out what I'mma gonna wear._

* * *

"It has been a long time since I saw that symbol."

Natsu turned her head over to the old man that was walking up to her. The evidence box, which he had collected from her three days before, was being held by his lieutenant who ambled up just behind him. Her eyes fluttered away from the clanking cane to her own form as she once again made sure that everything was fashioned in the right place.

While she wasn't wearing a kimono, and certainly not anything casual, she was wearing a completely new shihakusho. New fabric always fell weird and rough along the body which had everyone walking around a bit stiff, even if the fabric was loose, and so she thought it would be a good reminder to keep her back erect. Additionally, this shihakusho was perfectly cut to her frame, instead of being two sizes too big like the one she normally wore. They could probably run her in the Soul Society gazette, the one coming out of the ninth division, about how to dress appropriately for a day's work. She nearly looked the part of a conformed, model shinigami that could melt into the crowds.

However along waist she had decided to wrap her family cloth, which had a triangle that fell along her right thigh, and this set her apart from the standard. The cloth itself was purple in color which was associated with spirituality and higher self of the individual. It pointed to the power that the Kotomi clan had once had as a long stemming sideshow of the Soul Society. The symbol itself was two fold: the inner circle and the outer circle. The inner circle had a yin-yang symbol, however the two pieces were split apart and in the gap between the yin and yang was the depiction of a sword and shield. The shield had the design of flames along it in waves. The sword was a standard katana shape. In the outer circle there was the depiction of everything that the Kotomi clan fought and protected at each axis point; family, friends, workers, and the households.

"Made a trip back home." Natsu flapped the family cloth a few times and the smoothed out the material along her thigh. Her voice was a bit strained from her own rehearsals and she had already adopted the regular way of speaking so that she wouldn't accidentally slip into anything. "Washed it up."

"Is the house still there?" the old man questioned as he gestured for them to keep walking towards the building.

Natsu nodded her head which set off the jingle of the small metal in her hair. She couldn't do anything about the informality of her hair style, though she had fashioned the two tails into one thick plait down her back. In addition to that she had added the small silver jewels, which were nothing like the kenseikan that the Kuchiki household adorned. They symbolized a similar thing without all the added weight of being a noble household. They were tiny silver strips that were attached to each side of her fringe, and went down along her temples. There were tiny bells at the ends which were what was making the noise.

"It's still standing, although it is technically abandoned… After all, there's no one from the household left," she responded lightly as she shuffled her shoulders round so they wouldn't slump over. "I do have two people living permanently on a small piece of land just by the cutoff. They bought it a while ago and they take care of upkeep - of the building and the fields."

There had been no fall from grace for the Kotomi clan. Not like the Shiba clan. Instead, it had merely passed its time in the spotlight. Its power had run its course a long time ago with its name in the Central 46 and had diminished in significance long before she was even born. However, the legacy of its honesty and dedication during its time as judges for the Central 46 was impactful enough. The family had a good reputation regardless of being irrelevant and no longer a formal part of any proceedings.

The Kotomi family had none of the standards of keeping blood within the 'noble circle' since they were not a noble family at all; just one of minor significance at some point in time. There were other Shinigami that carried Kotomi blood in a technical sense. But they no longer carried the name having been born into other families and carrying on those names instead. With the passing of her grandfather, she was the last blood from the most pure line of the Kotomi household. She was the last person of direct lineage and the last to carry the name. Therefore she was the sole inheritor of all the wealth which was nothing a bit of land and a one story, traditional house.

The old man gave out another hum which collected her attention as they were crossing along the bridge towards the cylindrical building up front. Around them was calm waters, and beyond that was another wall. "It seems you were more prepared then I gave you credit for."

"It isn't much. Going in with the Kotomi name is like swatting a bee with one chopstick." Natsu grudgingly felt her words garble under her breathe, with her accent almost slipping back through. She cleared her throat as subtly as she could before she continued, "they must have some really old people in there right now if they were willing to listen to all this from someone carrying this dead name."

"Excuse me." Natsu peered her head up to see an onmitsukido member who was waiting by the doors. "Only Kotomi Natsu is allowed to enter further, Yamamoto-Sou-taicho."

"I was already aware… Chojiro hand over the evidence to Kotomi," Yamamoto spoke out slowly as he kept his eyes only on the black-ops member who had spoken so strongly against him.

Natsu let out a small huff and turned around as she took the box from the white haired man. He gave a small nod of his head and a tiny smile along his face. Natsu furrowed her brows at his smile, he was not known for smiling after all, and then heard his small whisper of good luck to which she smirked back. She shuffled the box of all her belongings and shifted back around to see that there was still a small contest going on; although the onmitsukido member looked far more nervous. Natsu could not blame the poor assassin squad member that was probably thinking of retiring early.

The sou-taicho's eyes slowly trailed over to her and he let out a small grunt which Natsu raised an eyebrow at. "You will be taken down to the underground assembly hall." The old man kept his voice direct and bland, indifferent to her look and the amusement at battle she had just seen. "Youngster's these days seem to want to take on the world... I look forward to the good news Kotomi Natsu."

 _Oh… Jeez, e's really 'xpectin' a lot._

Natsu covered up her grimace as rapidly as her muscles twitched over her mouth and nodded her head. The old man tapped his cane against the ground and then swiftly turned around the other way. The first division lieutenant nodded again and then followed after his captain. She narrowed her eyes at the dumb insistence the old man had at seeming fragile and feeble. No one that really wanted to appear as such would heap certain amounts of burdening expectation on someone else. Nor would they have glared down an onmitsukido member and then walked away with a strength in his steps that could destroy the entirety of the compound they were in. She had to wonder what had set him off, because he had been the most accommodating that she had witnessed during their walk here.

Natsu turned around to see the onmitsukido member was already holding the door open and then proceeded into the circular room without another nudge. Immediately before her, she could make out the an octagonal structure of the interior building, with its pointed top. For a huge structure, it had a tiny door right at the bottom of it, with the crest of the Central 46 just above it. The crest was nothing more than four octagons layered on top of one another so that they looked like octagonal rings; black, white, black, white.

The onmitsukido pushed her forward gently so that she continued her walk through the middle of the circle toward the octagon, which would lead her to the hearing room. Her steps echoed grandly through the entire space, and even though she knew of her own presence in the space she felt infinitely small in the space. Her eyes remained locked onto the grand octagon, and left her head tilting backward as she slowly lost sight of the pointed tip the closer she got. The coldness of the place was shattered along by her small walk, but instead of displacing it came right back toward her, seeping deep into her very veins.

The door was once again opened for her, and there were a few steps to walk down. Her toes clenched up to grip around to the stones so that she wouldn't go slipping down. It was unnecessary even though her brain really thought it was important for her to do this. Even her own fingers started to furl around and she heard the small groan from the cardboard in her hand as she crumbled up the more sodden fabric. Consciously she unfurled them and left them against the flat surface as best she could. She didn't want to run the risk of damaging the box.

Once the stairs finished which seemed to have gone on for forever, much like the ladder that Kisuke had invented for the training space under his shop, she was faced with a long hallway. It was slim in proportion to the width of the stairwell that she had just come down, and the further she looked along it she could see the walls already closing in. With the suffocating whiteness, broken only by the small illumination from the flames in the torches, and the narrowing walls, she felt her body squeeze in tight; her lungs growing closer to the her spine with each step. However, in actuality she easily passed the hall in no more than two heavy steps and was up against a door in an instant.

She let out a small, hysterical huff as the door at the end of the hallway opened up after only a few moments, recognizing that her brain was playing cruel tricks on her when she peered into the large room before her. There was another set of stairs which she slowly made her way down. Around her rose the benches and high-backed chairs of the forty wise men. They went around in two concentric rings, only giving small passage for the stair case that opened up into a small area which had a table for her to lay out all her evidence.

She touched ground and then looked up at the already clothed faces. Each flap had a number to designate who they were, in order to keep the actual identity anonymous. Her eyes flew around the tan hides that covered them up in the two stories of circles, and then fell on the front. There was a small set of stairs on either side of the small platform, used to signify the distinction of the forty wise men from the six judges. Other than that small difference, the judges appeared to her exactly as the forty wise men did.

 _Jus' bein' ere makes me feel guilty._

 _You're not._

 _…. Jeez, thanks._

She slowly set the box down on the desk, belatedly realizing that she had lost the onmitsukido member who had been at her back. She paused slightly at the disappearance supposing that the protection detail had stayed up towards the top, as was procedure. She gave a slight shake of her head to clear out the remaining distractions before stepping away from the table. Her hands came to the front of her body and wrapped among one another as she bowed her head down to the judges that were before her.

She picked her head up once she heard the call for her name from them. "My name is Kotomi Natsu. I am twentieth seat of the fourth division under Unohana Retsu."

"Do you have any previous affinity to another division?"

"I was once the second of the sealing division in the Kido Corps under the administration of Hira Jozo."

"You appeared before us once before requesting permission to transfer to the Gotei 13, correct?"

"Yes. That is correct."

"Your reasoning at the time was that you thought your abilities were best served at the Gotei 13. Is that correct?"

"Yes. Correct."

"However, that was not the case seeing as you were really in alliance with three formally exiled captains. And you refused to hand in this information even though you were aware of their actions against the Gotei 13."

"Sirs," Natsu spoke out as calmly as possible at the accusations that she knew would start off the trial. "My affiliation with those three exiled captains mentioned was already pardoned and dealt with by Yamamoto-sou-taicho during the small period of time in which Central 46's powers were transferred to him. Such decisions made on his behalf during that time have already been been formally acknowledge... However, to clarify such accusations I would like to state that my actions were only taken in consideration that at the time Aizen Sousuke, who you have now imprisoned for crimes against the Gotei 13, was a much trusted captain and I had little evidence to sway either myself or the other captains."

There was a tiny murmur in the room before a banging. One of the judges cleared out his throat and Natsu tipped her head over to the left to give the direction her attention. "Are we to assume that your partnership with the aforementioned captains as well as your current standing in our chambers, has nothing to do with your lineage?"

"Duty to the Gotei 13 far out weighs any connection you believe you can make to my previous lineage," Natsu spoke out with the marks of itching ire, though she retained her calm mask as much as possible. "I would also like to state for further reference that my lineage is not of questioning value nor is my affiliation with the exiled captains…. Instead I would rather turn your attention to the fact that it is not of value because of the evidence that I have gathered to present to you for the the freedoms of all those accused in the case of May 4th, 1900."


	47. Chapter 46

The next month was spent at, inside, and lounging in the old Kotomi House. She received only one message from Unohana which spoke about her captain's awareness of the proceedings and that the time away would not effect any of her future work in the fourth division. Natsu couldn't rightly tell what that meant but it didn't give her any good feelings. It really hadn't been her insistence to spend time in the house. She'd be more than happy to not spend her time in the dusty place but her hands were tied by the urging of the Central 46. They thought it was only fitting that she stayed some place where her attention couldn't be called away from the case at hand. After all, they had her practically every day in the court room going through each part of the evidence all over again. Over and over again. She could practically feel the way her brain oozed out from her ears as she predicted their questions and her tongue was dried out from over use. Kami did she hate the overrated way that they spoke, as if more sophisticated words made them actually superior to people. All they did was just take more time to say the same thing as they piled on their "superior" sounding adjectives.

When she wasn't in the courtroom, which was beginning to feel rather incensed by, she was in the house. It was kept in good condition due to the devotion of the husband and wife pair, Mogo Takashi and Suzuka, that she employed to stay on the land and maintain it. They hadn't been servants in the original house but they didn't act as such in this new household so it didn't really matter if they knew out-dated traditions. Takashi was a retired Shinigami, having no connection to noble fashions, and the only reason he now worked for her was because he got critically injured. He lost his leg and adamantly refused to receive any of Kurotsuchi's experimental artificial limbs. She couldn't really blame him for it, since it was still relatively new science at the time.

Natsu had only just transferred in from the Kido Corps when Takashi became one of her first patients right out of the transfer window. Because of that, she knew practically all the details of his life. He had put one too many objections forward about why he should not under go surgery. Suzuka had been expecting their first child at the time which was his major concern and it made him very stressed about making such a decision; lose his livelihood by foregoing the surgery or potentially die, or eventually lose his livelihood, with a botched surgery. At the time, they didn't have any concrete statistics to give him but she gave the best council that she could.

Conveniently, Natsu needed someone to help take care of the house which she had neglected for the near twenty years she had been in the Kido Corps. She initially offered up a section of the old home and some of the land to the man with the side note of saying she might need to use it at some points, so it would be like communal living. Additionally she offered a small compensation for keeping it functioning so that he could keep his family fed, since they both apparently had strong reiatsu. They anticipated that their son would also have reiatsu and eventually become a Shinigami. When Takashi refused to live in the house itself, Natsu offered to build him a family home on the land that she had as long as he made sure to maintain the Kotomi House as well. He had reluctantly accepted her bargain.

At first, he had believed it to be pity on her part, but they had actually conversed and those feelings were long gone as soon as the winter months had come and gone. It took the couple a bit but they rather came to like the work, having also made a small business of producing crops in the land she owned and selling them to other noble families or to the Shinigami. He and his wife were the only ones that had an extra set of keys to the place and Takashi's amputation never bothered him during his spring cleaning. It was easy to get in and maneuver around the one story building which ran in a long line. There were only a few rooms she even wanted to keep clean, which consisted of the bathing room, her old room, and the kitchen, and so a good portion of the house still had sheets covering the furniture to keep the dust away from the fabric. The woodworking room was meant to be dirty, but Takashi sometimes cleaned up the tools there.

As she originally stated she hadn't been in the house much, if at all, during the past forty years because she had other more important things to do in the barracks; namely making sure no movements were made without her observation. It had been surprising for both of them when she had told them that she'd be taking up a residence in the place. They had only given a few looks between one another, another few sly looks towards her during their nonverbal conversation, before they said that they wouldn't disturb her whilst she was in. They looked somewhat appeased when she mentioned that it was only to do work that wasn't within the Seireitei's walls and was part of a mission operation that she had been designated to, though they were only half believing of what she said. They did know that she wasn't in trouble which eased them enough not to venture close to the house or to ask any more questions.

Every time she stepped a fresh into the house, no matter how many times she did it during a day, she could see herself up against the walls by the front door. Her own youthful, spotted eyes looking up bewildered at the sight of a forever closed front door, and Natsu would have to shake her head every single time to get rid of the image. However, the small girl followed after her with the smallest tapping of her feet against the wood, or the tatami. Her head would poke around corners with just her wide eyes so that she could disappear as suddenly as she appeared. Natsu could hear the tiny echo of giggles during the forever games of hide-and-seek and then the shrieks that bounced around each corner in the forever cacophony of insanity that seemed to curse the house.

The worst, of course, was the room that she had called all her own. Everything had been changed out, some donated to other children around Soul Society, because she outgrew them. She had barely recognized the room when she had first stepped in. The futon that was just slightly raised above the ground was familiar enough, though. It came along with the small hums and the ever present heat that smelled like cinnamon. Whenever, she was on that small cusp of sleep, there was the lazy stroll of jazz music that was whispered into her ear directly or that off-in-the-distance tune from the phonograph down the hall.

In the boredom of hours, though, she spent her time carving out the ghosts that lingered in the house through the wood. She had bought a good amount of wood of a merchant and scratched out the small symbol that she had always known. When that easy design was done, she began to carve freely, letting her hands provide their own movements. The sound of wood shaving off and the cuts and the jamming were enough to drown out the twiddles of laughter and giggles.

Slowly she put down the small structure she had been making and narrowed her eyes at the door to the room. She waited patiently, back rigid for once, to see if she had made up the noise as another amalgamation of having heard it one too many times. Odd, wasn't it, that when you anticipated a noise, you start imagining it all together, so when it does truly ring you just think you're crazy again. Then came the distinct pattern of three knocks, perfectly timed. Unhurriedly, she got up from the bench and wandered back to the front of the house, passing through the long hallway; on one side laying a series of other doors that had remained shut, and on the other side the endless window frames and glass that opened to the sunset every evening.

"Yes," she stated as she flung the door open rapidly and looked down at the onmitsukido that was kneeling down on the ground. "I'm needed at the diet chamber again?"

"Yes."

"Very well… Let me change into more appropriate clothing."

Natsu left the onmitsukido member outside. It was odd at first having the onmitsukido calmly being used for such tasks like sending messages, though, she supposed, it made sense for the black-ops to be the ones to transfer important, sensitive, and often confidential information across branches. They were highly trained at keeping secrets. It was even odder, however, having to leave the door open as they patiently waited outside. According to regulations, crossing over into the house was considered too casual, so they had to remain outside.

She let out a long sigh, draining out her lungs, as she wandered back into her room, easily slipping the yukata off as she entered. She didn't even bother to close the door behind her, knowing by now that the onmitsukido were never looking. Or always looking and never commenting. Her fingers slipped easily through the pattern she had gotten used to. She had been washing and re-wearing the same shihakusho, which now fell a bit baggier on her frame from the constant wear. Additionally the family sash was becoming a common place weight around her waist and leg, and she could get the jewels into her hair without cursing.

So began the routine. They made their way to the Central 46 chamber with ease and good time. She could literally pick out every single rock that she passed by, and could note differences in the shade of green along the grass that she knew. Their feet conformed into the ground itself with their tracks already having been left over in the dirt that they walked upon only a day before. It was impossible to get rid of such evidence from the consistency of having to use the same path. She slipped past all the doors, and her sleeves and pant legs billowed as she slide down all the stairs. She didn't miss a single mark, nor was her hair in ruins from the fast shuffle she had done. She folded her hands neatly over her front as soon as she came to a standstill, and turned her head up towards the judges after a small bow of the head. While the table may have been done away with, all other procedures were the same, and bolted down to every crevice of her movements.

"We are going to resume our discussion now that the defense is here," one of the judges spoke out towards the right.

Her head then tipped towards the left as another voice spoke out, "we will resume at point 32."

Over the month that the case hearing was spanning, the bulk of the story had been split up into thirty-five different points. Each point was a criminal offense that could be picked out and scrutinized from the information about the night of May 4th and the evidence that was presented on the files. Natsu had gone through this particular point more than twice a day, since it seemed that the room was completely stuck on it. She was struggling to come up with new ways to convince them about hollowfication and, more specifically, how to treat the victims of the unwanted experiment that Aizen had subject them to.

While, Kisuke had already been exempt from the conversations and the guilt had been placed on Aizen with only a few words, the Central 46 remained conflicted about what to do with the other captains and lieutenants. Natsu wasn't completely sure if the judges and the wise men had noticed that they had changed their tone after Kisuke had been exempted, though they must have given their obdurate nature. Natsu took it as a good sign regardless of not knowing how the court was being swayed. She still found herself to be the only radical voice int he midst of traditional outcry, but she was hoping to believe that at least the extermination orders had been taken off.

"We, the Central 46, are in agreement with your assessment that they too were victims of Aizen's experimentation, point 31 for reference," the judge's voice echoed down and there were a few trickles of agreement. "However we are unconvinced of your portrayal of them as sympathetic characters."

"Would you please clarify what part is confusing?" Natsu robotically put forth with her automatic response. She was going to trash all those words and never use them in the same sentence with one another ever again after all this was over. That old man was going to owe her a hell of a lot. "Are you referring to their nature as souls with rational thought?"

"There has never been a Shinigami that has been able to retain any level of humanity under the influence of hollow powers."

Natsu's eyes sharpened at the news, wondering only briefly if tests of such a nature had ever been conducted before Aizen had attempted them, and her teeth ground slightly. Where else would Aizen have gotten the idea if not from someone else? Where else would Kisuke have gotten the idea? Of course, someone on the court must have thought it would be an interesting experiment to try out. Just for fun. Of course.

 _Fuck tha sys'em_

 _Natsu focus._

 _Tha's a fuckin' moral outrage_

 _I understand. But focus._

Swallowing back an acidic, zany build up in her mouth, Natsu stumbled to choke out her words through ire thickened vocal chords. "I have seen no proof for what you consider to be a worry so I cannot make a clear judgement, however, given the tes-"

"We have considered the testimony from Yamamoto Genryusai as well as the videos of the war, however they are not clear allies and while they may demonstrate momentary sanity it is impossible to know if they will not soon fall victim to the hollows in them. Our evidence stands to the espada that easily fell victim to Aizen's whims and show little remorse in their actions."

"And the portrayal of Ayake Ichiyuko eight years before the events is not sufficient enough?"

Natsu had thrown Yuko a bit under the bus. There was no proof that the Central 46 would even get rid of her criminal record with how they were speaking, although Natsu had a faint guess that if they were willing to clear Kisuke then they would do the same with Yuko. However, new charges had to be filed about her own hollowfication when Natsu had been forced to make it clear to Central 46 that Yuko had been hollowfied at some point during Aizen's terror. It had been started by accident during a mission, exacerbated by Aizen, and then trained and augmented, without interference to her duties as captain of the tenth division, eight years prior to May 4th. Natsu hadn't really wanted to bring it up, knowing it could count against the ex-captain, but Yuko was a prime example of what could be achieved.

"Like stated previously there is no way to know whether or not they will fall pray to hollows that they possess in their spirits. Therefore we find ourselves unable to deem them suitable for living."

Natsu pulled in some air, trying to cool her overheating system, and breathed it out as silently as possible. Her lion was rearing its ugly head again, and was pushing up against the weakened bars that had kept it tightly confined at some point. All her expressions were, of course, catalogued by those around her so she had to do her best to think under the pressure of watchful eyes. She found only a small line of thought that allowed her to breathe out the ire of her very being at the blatant discrimination, even with the evidence which stood before them, and followed that serenity back so that she was seeing the area clearly again.

"May I then, state something not yet recorded, in chance that it might appease your worries?"

There was a small rustle and then she made out that familiar bang of a mallet which covered up the sudden noises of disagreement that infiltrated the room. "You have the floor."

"In the human world there is a theory about human life. It is within a field of both psychology, which is the study of the brain, and philosophy which is the study and ruminations of life." Natsu fumbled over her words which she had stored in the small storage cabinet at the back of her head for potential usage. "This theory argues about a conflict - whether or not humans are determined by the genes that they carry or the environment that they grow up in."

"Please make this more brief."

Natsu slammed her jaws together in frustration before she swallowed the bitter pill that was unnecessary beaucracy. "Essentially what I am attempting to state is that while you cannot say for certain whether or not the former captains and lieutenants will fall victim to their hollow halves, it is also important to make note of the environments that they grew up in when comparing them to the espada… Though the espada and the group known as the Vizards are fundamentally different."

"You're evidence is theoretical." A snide chirp and Natsu tossed a look over towards the right before nodding rigidly because while the voice was pretentious, it also wasn't completely wrong. "You have no proof of this theory functioning."

"My proof is based on the difference in behavior between them and the espada that you deem their brethren. They exhibit none of the same personality traits like the wish for destruction and violence, because of their upbringing as Shinigami through the academy and into the Gotei 13."

"Foolishness!"

"It is based on the amount of commitment and respect that they showed to the Gotei 13 before they were subjected to brutal testing…. On them willing to give up their very lives that night, and then disregarding the extermination that was still over their heads, still coming to help during a war, demonstrating a clear ability to control the hollows within them."

"That could be merely temporary."

"Yet somehow for one hundred years they have maintained that balance and have remained completely sane?"

"Careful of your tone, Kotomi Natsu." The mallet banged down with the sharpness of the retort. Natsu immediately bowed her head down to cover up the grimace on her face, although it looked like immediate submission to them which worked in her favor. "Essentially your argument is based on appeasing to flimsy theories and speculations. If you have nothing more concrete to propose then we will dismiss this part of the case."

"I –" Natsu pulled back her small stutter and chewed slightly on her lip. The fatty lip came out slowly as she dragged her teeth along it like the words that were emerging from her brain. "In case… 1037 a Shinigami was convicted of crimes of controlling two zanpakutos by his superior officer. These zanpakuto had no relevance to one another and even had separate names and abilities."

"What is your point?"

"The Central 46 passed that this man was able to retain his life as well as his abilities because he demonstrated that he was able to fully control all aspects of his shikai for both zanpakutos. Then is that not the same for those that have been hollowfied? Their powers come from one place although it's different so-"

"It is not the same seeing as hollows are base level entities that retain none of their thoughts and act purely like animals."

"There is concrete evidence to disprove that." Natsu put forth with just a small wave of her hand from the energy that was coursing through her. "You would not deem arrancar or the espada a prominent threat - ones you have stated actively chose to side with Aizen during the war - if that were so."

"There is no way of knowing they won't become hollows which has proven to be the case for former experiments and the very reason that hollowfication experiments were deemed unlawful."

"You keep repeating this point of reversion, yet there is also no proof to support your argument that they may somehow lose rationality that they have retained for one hundred years… Their powers come from one soul with two sources, just like the Shinigami in case 1037, and they maintain their sanity to this point."

There was silence from the judges as Natsu looked up at the imposed superiority behind the panels of anonymity. "I call adjournment to this meeting."

"Wait," Natsu cried out immediately, jumping on the words just as they finished. "Adjournment will just mean that we get back to the same topic later on. Please, they are only souls. They carry the same fear you do. Just like they carry the same love and desire to support. There is more proof for their benevolence than for their violence. Fe-"

"Enough." The word splattered out in two long syllables and Natsu shut her mouth immediately as she slowly moved so that she was standing up straight again from her tiny leap towards the high wall. "Your words are only emotional and biased and have no place in this courtroom."

"Yet you are condemning them for something "emotional and biased"… Fear that's why you don't want to allow them to live, because you are worried of what will come." Natsu attempted to shove the words out to their ears as she looked along the bench. She was certain they must have been as devoid as the tarps that covered their faces and wondered if the tarps also covered their ears. She couldn't even notice if they had shifted in anxiety or sadness or any emotion behind them. "How can Soul Society move on if the very people who are supposed to help are more worried about what could become of it than the weakness that it already presents itself as?"

"This meeting is adjourned." The mallet rang down again, and Natsu found onmitsukido members around her to ward her off. "Resit in one hour."

Natsu let herself be dragged off by an onmitsukido member with just a small pump in her heart. Her head slowly tilt down and it brushed against the door that was closed to her, as she made out the grating of chairs and the dispersal of the people inside through another door and into another room further away from her. Her fingers slowly pressed down onto that bit of solidness that the wood could provide to ease out the flicker of hope that she wanted to stamp out so furiously. It was the first time a resit was so close together with the adjournment but she couldn't really let that mean so much. Yet there she was waiting to enter back into the chamber with a flurry.

* * *

 **A/N: Just thought it would be cool to note, the usage of "diet" in the earlier part of this story. In Japan, the National Diet (English translation of the Japanese, obviously) is the bicameral legislature. I thought it would be more appropriate to use the word instead of courtroom or something like that.**


	48. Chapter 47

Natsu slowly pulled her eyes up to the ceiling with its pristine whiteness, a white too bright which had her closing her eyes immediately after. Her head tossed back over to the side and she tried to slink back into the confines of darkness. Her bed felt new beneath her frame again and oddly hard and lumpy, so she mushed it down to the curves of her body by throwing her body along it and rearranging. Her covers had been tossed towards the end of the bed which she could feel in the tangle of her feet as she tried to rearrange them but they just wouldn't move. She could make out the sensation of heat as it began to accumulate between her toes and then surround her feet.

Her eyes came open again and fastened onto the desk which had been used more in the past two months than it had ever been in her forty years. Her zanpakuto now rested on top of it for its own much needed rest. There was a faint hiss from the lion and Natsu drifted all her thoughts away from the sword so that she could force out any unwanted, unnecessary contributions from the lion. They fell along the wood of the instrument in the closet that was still hidden away. There was a tiny flash from the blue material that had remained neatly folded on top of it from when Ayako had done it all those months ago. It almost seemed foreign to her to stare at everything in her room, the way she had done everything in the past, organized and arranged in the way it had been for the past forty years. Now that the war and come and gone it felt unfamiliar and new to look upon at the same time.

A small tap came through the window and she tilted her eyes which then moved her head up to see what was at her window. It had been the thing that had disrupted her sleepy darkness anyway. She narrowed her eyes at the hell butterfly that had fluttered its wings against the glass. It circled around a few times and then pressed down on the glass and tapped its wings again to try and enter her room. It had been incessantly doing the same thing, creating that repetitive noise that filtered into her room and disrupted her sleep, for more than a few minutes now.

Nastu slowly climbed out of the bed, with a small jumble as her feet were still caught in her covers, and then opened the window. The butterfly entered through the smallest crack even before the window was fully open and landed along her shoulder. Her eyes came to another close as the words were vividly displayed along the lids of her eyes as she heard the incessant, demanding, and urgent order. She reached up and rearranged her hair to make sure that every hair was in its best place before getting up and leaving through the window that she had just opened.

She had been back in the Seireitei for a week now. After the one hour adjournment at the Central 46, she had been called in again. There was a heavy debate which went on for hours. The room did not make entirely new developments during that time but there definitely was a new energy which had infiltrated the diet chamber during those long hours. She was eventually dismissed, rather obnoxiously in the middle of something, but dismissed nonetheless. She returned to her home, only to wake up in the early morning with a message that her presence would no longer be needed at the Central 46. She was to immediately head back to the walled city and resume her duties to the Gotei 13. There was no way of knowing what decisions had been made and she only had vague concepts of how they had been leaning, but it was deeply unsettling. Yet there was no one to argue with the Central 46's decisions. This is what they did.

During the trip over to the first division, she rearranged all of her clothing again. She had taken to wearing her normal apparel again, having thrown all of the Kotomi clan symbols into storage again in the house. She was still getting used to the lack of weight around her waist and even her hair, and she found herself fiddling with everything more than normal as she adjusted back. The shihakusho top was a particular issue for her because she always felt it was sliding around her shoulders, even when it wasn't since the fabric was too weighty to move along her slumped form. It felt almost like awkward post-traumatic stress disorder in a strange way, as she kept remembering things that she had sought to use to occupy her time. Now she had seemingly forgotten what it was like to live her day-to-day, average lifestyle; almost like the laziness had been drained from out of her during this war.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to announce herself, she found the large doors of the First Division opening and honed in on the two rows of captain's that were remaining. In addition there was the back row of the lieutenants that took up a place close to the wall. The three fukutaichos that were acting as the leaders of their respective divisions for the moment, were the only ones standing more upfront, though they too stood a few steps behind the actual captains figures. They could hardly fill in the gaps that had been left anyway, and this was just the physical representation of the gap in levels. Her feet faltered slightly at the abundance of people before she waved along the two stacked lines once more. Her sloth like steps carried her up to the front of the room which was filled with a surprising number of occupants. The butterfly had made it seem like the meeting was already over, and that she would be having a private audience not a full house. Now that room felt more domineering than it had ever appeared before.

"Faster, child," the old man spoke out and she lengthened her legs. Her feet faltered again as she was about to kneel but the man gestured for her to come up even further. "Yes… Come here."

She slunk up the small set of stairs to his chair and then turned so that she was halfway facing him but at the same time halfway facing the captains who were arranged. As she was roving over all their faces' again, she spotted a more hidden figure that she hadn't noticed before. Her eyes did a double take as she looked more closely at Yuko, who's black eyes were watching the scene curiously with her frame hidden, just because of her more petite size, behind Ukitake. When Natsu finally got the woman to look at her directly there was a mask of utter confusion and there was nothing that she could draw from the ex-con at all. Natsu's own eyes widened just slightly as she turned back over to the captain as he was drawing back all the attention.

"In light of recent happening, I have deemed it necessary to enlighten everyone of what has been going on in the background," the old man spoke out candidly and then his hand was suddenly flung out in gesture towards her. Natsu nearly jumped away from the hit that he sent and stared at the hand with growing trepidation. "Kotomi Natsu, for the past month, has been in debate with Central 46."

 _Oh… Shit._

Natsu whined out mentally as she grimaced at the flurry of silent attention she was getting. Sets of eyes seemed to try and fixate on some type of aspect that made her appropriate for the concept. She shuffled slightly and jammed her hands deep into her pockets. Her slouching did nothing to help the image but it did enough to stifle the eruption of nerves in her arms. There were only a few reasons why the man would bring this up to light in front of everyone, and if Yuko was also in attendance than it couldn't have been completely outside of the spectrum of Natsu's favor. Before she could go on with those rancid, optimistic thoughts, she took a deep breath in, hoping that none of this sporadic energy was shown externally. There was no need to get anyone else's blood boiling at this point. She didn't know what was actually to come.

Her eyes slowly slithered over to the only calm face out of all of them as her heart began to palpitate at such a speed she felt like a squirming child again waiting for a magic show. Unohana had the aura of a Buddha with her lids gently opened to showcase her blue eyes and the workings of a smile though her overall air was still very serious. It was enough of an epicenter of calm for Natsu. She trailed her eyes back over the row of curious glances and surprised looks which equally began to stifle the jump of her heartbeat as she could almost snicker at the gobsmacked silence in the room. Yes, the laziest person in all of Seireitei did something pretty damn important. She avidly avoided Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Yuko whose aspects would be too much to take.

"As I am aware the events on May 4th, 1900 are unknown to some in the room. In short it ended with the exile of three captains, the hollowfication of eight captains and lieutenants, and the imprisonment of Ayake Ichiyuko." The old man stampeded over every single detail that made the story more important. Natsu found herself huffing since she had been repeating the story for one month and here it was cut down to nothing more than a few sentences. "It was the very first act of major betrayal on the part of Aizen Sousuke and his two colleagues, Ichimaru Gin and Kaname Tosen."

"Those masked visitors at the war," Hitsugaya proposed gravely.

"Yes…. The details of everything that occurred will be disseminated out to everyone in the room so as to urge along this meeting." The old man commanded out and questions immediately stopped upon all of the lips that were ready to move. "The events ended with exile, extermination, and imprisonment. All of which are now no longer in effect."

"W…" Natsu found her mouth slightly dry as she tried to find words for what had just happened. "What?"

The old man peered at her from the corner of his eye almost as if acknowledging her participation for the first time, before he was stamping his cane down to get rid of whispers of confusion and hope, whilst hustling his children into order. It was highly reminiscent of the diet chamber and subconsciously she found herself shivering at the sound of the mallet hitting the wood overlapping the cane hitting the ground. It commanded in the same way, and there was an instant silence again as the man prepared what he was going to state.

Natsu found herself a breath away from feeling her lungs con-caving in, and word away from having that rush of life coming back through her body to claim her victory; so long as she was analyzing everything correctly. Her heart was beating erratically in her chest, jamming up against her ribs, and the fingers in her hands couldn't clench anymore as all the strength seemed to leave them just quivering piles of nerves. The lion in her was swarming up against the bars of its cell, brushing fur that stood on edge, as she prepared to hear this crushing news.

"Over the past three months Kotomi Natsu has compiled evidence, created sound testimony, as well as gave presentation to all the events that occurred on May 4th, 1900… In doing so, the Central 46 has wiped the criminal records clean." The old man grew louder from the third bought of rustling that was occurring, particularly from those that knew the case better. "The terms of exile are gone, Ayake Ichiyuko is free, and the extermination orders for the group known as the Vizards has been revoked."

As the words floated through her ears, roamed through her brain, and were promptly digested into her system, they seemed to only create a detached dissonance in her. Some sort of out of body experience took hold and she felt aware that she should feel happy, but wasn't feeling that way all that much. This was not a moment for real celebration. Nor of relief, which she thought would have her slumped against the ground ready to go into a year long hibernation. The room was too stifling of a place and the weight of duty was too prevalent around the old man and everything that he represented. It prevented her from reacting physically, but her body tore itself inside out. The thrust of victory through her body was so potent she had to duck her head down. Her eyes scrunched up, trembling lips pressing into a thin, white line, and her hands closed up with unknown strength to retain all of the energy, until she was silently vibrating next to the old man.

In that moment, too, was also a precipitous fall back down, along with a rough splatter along the ground of reality. She rose her head back up slowly, half dizzy from the lack of breath. Her fingers nearly broke as they slowly unfurled from the tight wraps she had placed them in. The tension swept from her back and straight down to the floor where it all evaporated before it could reach the hard wood beneath her.

"I am bringing this to everyone's attention because of what it means for us as the Gotei 13," the old man claimed and the silence which had permeated after his words was ushered along by the shift of participants in the conversation. Words buzzed in the air without much thought to the actual words that the Captain Commander was saying. "There is still the need to make the victims aware of the situation, but I would instead like to focus more long term."

"There are vacancies that need to be filled." Ukitake stepped forward with his words and he gestured over towards the empty spaces. "The acting fukutaichos have been doing a marvelous job but it's very obvious that the Gotei 13 cannot continue on in this way."

Kyoraku let out a small hum. "I agree. There are plenty of former captains that might be willing to step in if we ask them to."

"Absolutely not." Kurotsuchi shrillness cut through on a new octave. "The mere idea is preposterous. Not all of them will have space to return and the likelihood they would want to split up is very low."

"Come now Kurotsuchi-taicho, just because you don't like Urahara-san." Ukitake wormed out slowly as he held his hands out.

The older captains who knew of all the details of the case, mainly Kurotsuchi, Ukitake, and Kyoraku, found themselves in minor arguments, instigated by rushed assessments of understanding. Natsu almost let out a woeful cackle at how quickly they were to change their perspectives on one hundred years of grievances but, then again, Kyoraku and Ukitake were taking the position they should have years ago. Among the willful three voices that kept jumping out, the remaining captains were talking back and forth to gather up enough information to contribute something amongst all of the ideas that were being tossed around. The lieutenants were watching with wide eyes since almost all were too young to really know what was going on and too unsure of the confusion amongst their leaders. Yuko, who was just trying to her best to keep silent, knowing that she really couldn't place words in the discussion even when it had to do with her, stood behind Ukitake, eyeing blaring at Natsu with a look that she couldn't decipher.

Natsu found herself watching the proceedings with slowly drifting, lid-heavy, weighty eyes as the arguments continued on in a tiring, traditional fashion; like the dribble she had heard for the past month. A hardening stone coated her over instead and that dismal outlook she knew once came again to obscure part of her vision instantly. Her heart found it hard to beat against the new vengeance that the environment had decided to reap against her. The once untangled aspects of her mind slammed to a standstill and her mouth closed up tightly in a heavy knot. She let out a long steam of air and her eyes fluttered to a shut at all the cacophony of sounds that she couldn't drown out. There was only a peppering to get it all to stop, regardless of the heat that would tear her apart.

"'Xcuse me, sir," she spoke out before she really knew what she was going to say. However, without the pressure of 92 eyes hidden by panels, it was easy to find something to say under just the red-eyed scrutiny that was the captain commander. Even if her words came out dirtied, roughed up, and calloused with the way she had to guide them through the blisters and old wounds of her mind. "I got somethin' ta say."

"Silence," the old man immediately called out instead of directly responding to her.

His hand shifted over towards her again and Natsu let out a dreary sigh as she stepped forward. Her eyes searched over all the faces before fastening at the small group in the back. "Let me tell ya tha' it'll be improbable tha' any o' em will come back ta the Gotei 13."

"Natsu-chan…"

"Gosh…. Ol' men and their dribble," Natsu quickly found herself saying to stop the peppering whine from Kyoraku, as she shrugged her shoulders. "Think 'bout it. Kisuke got a shop 'e likes an' there ain't no way 'e 'bandonin' tha fo' a place tha' already got a competin' science bureau…. That tha case then Tessai ain't comin'. An' Yoruichi ain't comin' 'cause 'er place ain't 'ere."

Her words grew more tired as she found herself facing what she had slowly recognized she would have to say. It wasn't a wall before her but the very image of herself, as if the words could form into an apparition of her younger self. She paused only momentarily to brush past her younger self and the lion that was protecting the young child from the stone cold forces that Natsu was going to crush her with in the coming months. She wandered over to the other side of that little girl with no more glances back, yet she knew that that young girl would be chasing after her for the rest of her life by that tiny patter of feet that were already echoing after her.

"As fo' tha Vizards, ya got lots o' suckin' up ta do 'fore they even think o' doin' somethin' like tha'…. Tha's tha improbable par'."

"It's worth a shot," Ukitake argued, as if he hadn't heard the key word in her sentence. Perhaps, he hadn't from the still optimistic look on his face. "They came to help during the war and if we make it clear to them then, perhaps, they will find it possible to forgive us and come back."

Natsu gave a small nod finally feeling the brush of cold that she needed to freeze her up. There, now, her heart had calmed down. "'Xactly… I's why ya gotta do this part nice an' careful."

"Should I leave this to you then, Kotomi Natsu?" the old man called her back around and she turned her head over her shoulder to see the red eye that was peering at her with a challenge. "Do whatever you deem fit to make them aware of the situation and to inform them of the open positions."

"Wait." Several voices put out firmly though in several different ways but Hitsugaya seemed to take the lead with his skepticism about the situation and the members of the outcast group. "We're just going to let them back in."

"No… We're going to see if they would wish to resume their positions," the old man countered immediately and then took to his feet. "Should they seem interested then we will discuss the matter again and go through due process."

The room came to a standstill and then there was a fluttering of clothing as everyone began to leave. The old man turned slightly over to her which had Natsu shifting backward on instinct unable to see anything else but him; just as he wanted most likely. His red eyes peered up toward her own for a brief moment before he was shutting them down. His feeble play came back in and he slunk down in his seat, which had her silently turning so that she could edge backwards just a few inches. He had glued her to the spot on purpose with just that small glance. She had known from the eagerness in his vision.

"You did very well. I was called to the Central 46 this past week but only as support to the evidence that you presented to them. Your argumentation was a key factor in their revoking of the former decisions," the old man stated once the last of the ruffled clothing could be made out from behind her. His next words came out very slowly as he impounded them into her brain and her heart with every tap. "Remember I told you once… All actions have consequences. Even the ones that are meant to help."

"I'mma 'ware." Natsu pulled out dryly.

The man observed her for another moment. "I'm not sure you're fully aware of the consequences, but you will be shortly should things proceed in this manner."

Natsu furrowed her brows and her mouth opened just a bit more to say something. However, the man nudged his head and then wafted his hand in a light but effective dismissal. Her feet hovered in the spot for a moment before she began to make her way out of the doors and into the brighter area just under the veranda.

She slunk under the new weight which had only sloughed off for just a few moments. Though the area around her was sunny, bright, and blue, with the birds chirping and the wind playing tag, she felt putrid. Her insides were in a complete jumble and the lion was antsy; making its way through a prowl in the cage which now had bent sidebars from all of the pushing and slamming that it had done. She looked up at the sun and the luminescence of spring and let out several cursing grumbles to it. Then she slipped just a bit further down into her own body, as she was getting accustomed to the new weight and the new slink that she might have to be using for the rest of her life.

 _Fuck... tha' ol' man -_

 _Natsu, please._

 _... Shudup... I jus'- Fuck._

 _I'm sorry._

 _Really. Jus'. Stop._

"Natsu." Her head slowly turned over at the call of the voice and she identified Yuko, who she was surprised to see was behind her. The woman had left first in the flurry of movements from Kyoraku and Ukitake, although neither of the men were anywhere to be seen. "I'm joining up with them later. I wanted to speak with you alone for a moment."

"I's fine." Natsu shrugged as she fully turned around.

The older woman observed her for a few moments. Black eyes took their permission to trace over every crevice, wrinkle, and pour of her skin without real force. It was impossible to move under the look of rigid observance, which was unlike the old man's in only its immense presence. They held similar weight, if not for the fact that Yuko was just not at the old man's level. Yuko's gaze came from the ability to read people, and from her intense, intellectually analytic side that she always adorned when she observed what intrigued her. Natsu had no doubt that even the old man had recognized the look and it had been what he found intriguing about the woman so many years back.

Suddenly the black eyes were disappearing for black hair. Natsu blinked several times and found her mouth automatically tucking up into her harsh grimace. Yuko had sunk all the way down to her knees, and had performed a regal kotow before Natsu could even utter a word to stop. Let alone physically stop her. The woman's head remained against the wood, as Natsu found her eyes flickering off the side. Words were long gone from her brain, frying under the intensity of the woman's subjugation.

"Thank you."

Yuko's words swarmed out worse than the weight of the penance at her feet. The grimace along Natsu's lips turned into a disaster on her face, as it wrenched any other expression from coming to light and left only bitter anger at the submission. Her eyes flickered around a few times trying to find something else to wash away the decrepit sight of the strong woman before her but everything seemed to play along with the moment. With the steeled over quiet of the place, and birds that seemed to tweet every now and again in agreement, Natsu couldn't find anything that actually agreed with her at that moment except for the voice in her head.

"Stand up." Natsu bit out abruptly and then immediately fixed up her tone so as to wash away a bit of the seriousness from the area. "I'mma bad wit' this kinda stuff.. Gettin' a 'lergic reaction from jus' seein' ya like that."

Natsu leaned down and helped Yuko come out from her kneel. While it wasn't necessary since the woman's wounds were long since healed and her agedness from the confines of the jail cell were rapidly deteriorating because of being stress free, it was an offering. An offering made now between two women and not a woman and a child.

When the two women were now facing each other, Natsu continued as if not noticing that it was really the first time that she had touched the other since a long time ago. "Don't 'xpect no thank ya's."

"I know."

Natsu gave the women a once over which was returned by a tiny smile. She still wasn't completely up to her former glory but one day, Natsu knew Yuko would get there with all the help of all her new and old friends. "I didn't do it for ya."

"I know."

"Or them."

"I'm aware."

"Or Kisuke, Yoruichi, o' Tessai."

"Of course not."

"I didn't even do it 'cause it was 'right' or whateva."

Yuko let out another smile and the red trace in her eyes was gone. "I know… You're a vindictive bunch."

Words trembled on her lips for a brief moment, something that she knew Yuko saw, before she slipped her mask up her features; starting with the twist of her snarky smirk. Natsu leaned her head off to the side, letting her fringe cut through on her eyes as she proudly paraded her monstrous personality in front of everyone again. "At least ya know."

* * *

 **A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, this chapter marks the sixth chapter to what is hopefully a nice and somewhat satisfying conclusion to _Dynasty._ Only the final five chapters are left after this one! I'm super glad that all of you have stuck with me until the end, and I hope that you all continue to read until the very end to see this conclusion. I'm pretty proud of this work and I hope I get to share that with all of you. **

**Please let me know your thoughts on this story, or _Building a Home_ , or, fingers crossed, the upcoming Urahara Kisuke story. I read all my reviews and I'm also available by PM if that makes you more comfortable. **

**Hope to hear from you if not on this chapter, but on the few remaining subsequent chapters of this story. Or through any of my other stories!**


	49. Chapter 48

Three days later Natsu had an unseated, female, tenth division member, a recent graduate just at the commencement of the war, outside in the fields where Natsu had resumed her lazy days of staying prone in one position. Still, Natsu had very explicit directions that she to go over so that the newbie knew what they were doing when she met with the two groups in the human world. A letter and whatever conversation followed were going to given to Ayake Ichiyuko by the old man during a private meeting, so Natsu didn't have to worry about that. This left her with drafting out two letters; one for Kisuke and the group at the shoten and one for the Vizards. In addition to having an official letter that explained everything that was relevant to the court proceedings, Natsu gave the messenger two verbal messages; one for the each of the groups.

Kisuke's letter and message were a bit more personal; with her knowing them better and understanding that while he cared for the liberation of his name and title, it wasn't all that much. The same applied to Yoruichi and Tessai. They really had all moved on and created a small center where they felt comfortable. In addition, the Soul Society, regardless of the pass on the offer, was probably going to covertly use his expertise in other issues. If she knew that then so did Kisuke. At least now he knew that he wouldn't ever have to worry about his head being hacked off by an old orders should he ever feel it necessary to work in Seireitei itself.

The messages for the Vizards, however, were tricky to craft and to figure out how to present. She needed it worded in such a way that showed compassion for the case, but not enough to be interpreted as pity. They had no compassion left and they didn't need nor want pity. The language needed to be more official than emotional but also casual to give an essence that it was someone who gave a crap. However, it had to be in a tone that wouldn't link to someone like her either. It had appear that this was someone not so intricately connected to the case. If the language was wrong it would probably fuel misjudgment of the proceedings altogether or could pressure them into actions that didn't need to be taken. But the second half of the message also had to clearly indicate and allude to the second message they would receive asking about their interest in returning to the Soul Society and potentially returning to their former positions, without giving up that information.

Her instructions to the Shinigami for the gifting of the messages to the Vizards were as such: wait outside the building for as long as necessary - even if it was a period of days - until invited in. Make sure to actually be invited into the building. Don't let any of them not be in the group when offering them the letter. Stay close to the door and give a formal bow whilst presenting the letter. Then tell the group that there was a small message to summarize the contents which should be verbally given, though the acceptance of the physical letter would be the official notice that the message was received. Repeat word for word the verbal messages and then ask to be excused. When excused, give another bow and leave without another word.

The messenger returned after another three days with both letters having been taken and no message in response from either group. Then ten days later, Natsu had the same messenger come to her again and she crafted out only one single verbal message this time. While it was official proceedings to give the message to be Kisuke's group and to the Vizards, Natsu was really preparing the message for the Vizards only. This one was for the announcement that their presence in Soul Society was not requested, but hopefully open to them. Due to only having three missing seats, only some of their former positions were open should they take the offer, but they would be willing to accept any of them that wished to return to Soul Society.

Natsu commented that while all the other rules from the prior assignment were to be followed, the messenger should act much more casual in this instance though not laidback. Casual enough to have a proper conversation but not laidback so as to forget that this was a mission and she could potentially be a target. If any member of either groups ask questions, the shinigami should answer to the best of her ability, which was essentially moot because the girl knew nothing of consequence. The messenger could even help them theorize if they really were going to speak to her casually. Natsu then gave a three day time limit for the answers and requested a verbal response from both groups on their decisions.

The truth of the verbal messages - all three of the messages that she had crafted - was more in the fine detail of them. Nothing could happen without the explicit consent of the groups. This gave them the parameters and the power of not only the area but of how they wanted to hear, take, and question the message. The contents of the messages were bland to the point of near boredom on purpose, though she made sure to keep them very succinct and to the point because of such language. It would not be good to lose their interest so early on. More importantly, however, was the image found in the messenger; this little tenth-division member's visual information through her delivery and her actions.

The tenth division member was a symbol of their only compatriot from long ago, who had already decided to stay within Soul Society; a fact they must have known. It was always apparent that Yuko was going to be staying, though Natsu had suspicions that the ex-captain found news ways of communicating with her old compatriots to tell them this first hand. While that specific symbolic reference may easily have been overlooked, the fact that the messanger was an unseated member certainly wasn't. Unseated meant that the groups literally held power over the entire workings. If it had been someone like a fukutaicho, the messages would have come across much more like a threat because of the symbol of what the fukutaicho meant in Soul Society. It would have seemed like a command, instead of a request, which would work counter to the idea of what both the apology and the request symbolized.

A fresh face, who obviously had no idea what was really going on, and weak in power was a better representation to how much of a threat the Soul Society was. Meaning that the purpose of all of these transactions was to not be a threat whatsoever, because they weren't. They weren't because they were lacking three positions and moreover because they were still on shaky grounds in terms of stability. More importantly, both groups were free from whatever hold that Seireitei had over them. Soul Society was the one asking for the help meaning that it was only right to demonstrate that the groups held all the power in the situation; starting with the very act of being able to invite the messenger in.

"That's good." Natsu waved the words out as she let out another sigh. "Get ya cap ta give ya some time off fo' good work…. Use it ta sleep o' somethin'."

"Thank you very much ma'am."

Natsu let out a small tsk and peered open one eye to catch the end of the bow and then the quick walking the unseated member did. "Ain't a ma'am… Sucks."

She twisted back over to her side and tried to find a good position. The messenger had only dropped in to state that she was officially done with the mission and that the messages had been received. Natsu didn't know the answers since it had been mandated that the Sou-taicho would be the only one to hear them, another addition to the many specific directions that the young Shinigami girl had to comply with. Now all that was left was the official decisions, which would be designated by the captains, who by now were all caught up on the history. Well, if any person in either group had said yes. While her focus for over two weeks had been on the message, she would now be returning to her regular life with the last of it being done.

 _Fin'ly... som' sleep._

"Where the hell have you been?"

Natsu immediately shot her eyes open and then grimaced at the blades of grass that were only subjected to such a glower because they were right there. Her pouted lips turned into a sneer at the disruption, regardless of it being from Ayako, before she calmed down. She lazed her eyes half shut and then made a slow turn over to her other side. Ayako had her hands firmly on her hips. If there had been any confusion about her mentor's mood the thick, red bracelets that she was wearing was enough of a give away. However, the face of her mentor was twisted and there was a harsh furrow in her brow, with her mouth a very thin line painted along her face.

"Do you have any concept of communication, Kotomi Natsu?" Ayako badgered on as she flung her hand off to the side. "Thank heavens for Unohana-taicho! She was happy enough to explain what the hell you were doing but I really would have appreciated receiving a message from you, yourself."

Natsu slowly pulled herself up from the ground. Her hands immediately fumbled over her hair and she picked away at some of the blades that had gotten stuck there. Her fingers then massaged into her scalp as she peered up at the woman who stood like a stone statue over her. Slowly, she pulled her legs in and crossed them, before slanting backwards onto her hands as she took the direct blows of steam that were coming from the mentor figure.

Her eyes made a slow rove before they flickered off to the side as she let out a small grumble. "If ya talked ta cap then ya know… Wha's tha fuss 'bout?"

"Th- The fuss is about how you neglected to tell me you were okay. I had no idea where you were."

"Ya asked, ya knew." Natsu furrowed her brows as she glared out at the fields which disappeared into the small bushel of trees out ahead of her. "Wasn't ma problem."

Ayako shifted her weight slightly as she took in the sight of the young girl below her. There was no immediate release of anger or tension but Ayako's stomach began to churn as she slowly assessed everything before her. Unohana hadn't been wrong it seemed. The work the girl had been doing was taking its toll on her. Natsu looked disquieted from the tiny scrunch in her features that couldn't quite form her usual deadpan look. It was like another expression had been glued to her face, and now she was trying to pick off that hardened material - of a mask unfamiliar and misplaced - so that she could settle back into that dazed looking countenance that she normally had. But it was taking a long time to peal away from whatever mood was truly upsetting her. Natsu's body looked dumped over, as she hefted more and more of her weight into her hands to keep her frame upright but was just leaving her body more slumped and weak. She was more gaunt than thin now. Cheekbones that should have been just slim were sucked in dry, and the heaviness around her eyes was very apparent.

"What if you had died in Hueco Mundo and no one told me?" Ayako calmly blew out of her nose as she took a seat in grass. Natsu gave her a sharp look from the corner but made no other moves. "I knew you hadn't since I've been feeling your reiatsu, but a little communication would have set me at ease."

"Fine."

Ayako let out a slow nod when she realized that would be the only response she got from the young girl. The short, direct, and obviously quick agreement - a yes just to get the conversation done with - had Ayako turning away to give the girl some more space. She made out the sounds of the girl flopping through her arms and back onto the grass, a whomping sound came as the body cut through the air and then the blades curled in for the new weight with a distinct crinkle that Ayako had gotten used to hearing. Long legs stretched out, and angled just by her knee, as the girl positioned herself diagonally; close by but never touching. Ayako gave the knobby knees a small look before trailing up them to the eyes that were already closed over, with the still very present tension in the face.

"Natsu."

Natsu slowly picked her eyes open again and gave a small grunt. Suddenly Ayako's concerned gaze was right above her face and two blue eyes were flashing between her own. "Wha?"

"I may have heard everything from Unohana-taicho but why don't you tell me."

"No," she grumbled and then slowly twisted onto her side with one arm bent around her head so that she could lay down on her bicep. "I's too much work."

"Have you been sleeping?"

"Yes."

"Eating?"

"Yes."

"Really, now?"

"Whatta ya wan', Ayako?" Natsu finally spat out as she turned back over to the woman who was patiently waiting with her legs tucked under her and her hands on her lap. There was a thinly raised eyebrow before the woman let out a sigh, which Natsu immediately replicated. "I'mma tryin' ta sleep 'ere."

"Perhaps a straight answer would suffice."

"I ain't talkin' stiff anymore so cut tha crap."

Ayako let out another sigh and fell down onto one side, with her legs still bent off to one side, as if she was huddling into a loose fetal position, and then patted gently on the ground with her hand. "You're not sleeping well because of all the work you've been doing."

"So?" Natsu turned back onto her side and thumped her head down to get it positioned correctly on her arm again. Her eyes remained open as she curled up slightly and bore her back to her mentor on the other side. "I'mma gonna be sleepin' loads now so it ain't a problem."

She made out the rustle of fabrics and her eyes slowly drifted to a close. If Ayako was lying down than there was no need for more conversation. She made out the tiny pressure of a hand along her hair, and the repositioning of her two tails which eased her into a deeper silence. Her breathes came out slow and deep as her breath gave her that final push down into the depths of a watery sleep.

* * *

Natsu let out a long sigh as she made the trudge over to her captain's office. Her head hung down low between her shoulders with one of the tails sweeping forward over her shoulder as she went along. In an odd way there was a heavy, rolling bounce to her steps, as she sunk low into her owns knees and then would pop up just slightly to lift the second leg. Her hands stayed tucked in her pockets like normal though; her arms ended up bending in that familiar manner that she normally walked with.

"Comin' in cap."

"Very well, then."

Since she called out two steps from the door, there was always enough time to hear her captain's response and go straight for the door. Her captain was so used to the behavior that all work had to be set aside if she was going to call Natsu in, seeing as the girl literally waltzed in from the hallway. There was no time to fill in a straggling signature or read an extra line. And ironically, Natsu had a good sense of being on time for meeting, never dawdling more than five minutes past the arranged meeting time, so Unohana had become very accustomed to being ready before the meeting started.

Natsu slide the shogi panel open immediately and then let it shut with a soft clank as the wood met with more wood of the door frame. The captain's office was an open space, with green tatami mats along the floor. The desk was by one wall which had a window just next to it with a small box of a family of bonsai trees which the captain was always cutting down and rearranging. Other than the desk there were several cabinets to keep all her storage in, although Natsu had never really snooped around to see what was kept as regalia. The captain also always kept vases of flowers around in different places from her hobby of ikebana, which perfumed the air a bit too much for Natsu's nose, but it was nothing unpleasant. Apparently the captain liked small fragrant flowers, instead of heavy, seedy ones which put out pungent smells.

The office was comparatively barren to some other offices since there was another set of shogi panels opposite the main door, which led out to a terrace where Unohana was normally sat if she wasn't doing paperwork. The terrace was nothing more than planks of wood with a small veranda, but it overlooked the fields by the restoration house as well as maintained the captain's private supply of herbs and flowers. There were the public herb fields which all members had access to and that some nurses and Shinigami worked in as part of their work in the fourth division. There wasn't much difference between what was grown in either spot; just that one was private and the other was public and often had a larger supply because of that. Every now and again, though, the captain would plant aesthetic flowers - one with no medicinal purpose - in her small pocket of land. It made for a nice spot of color when nurses looked out across the long stretches of green fields when that happened.

The captain was already outside on the veranda, leaving Natsu half assuming that the captain had allotted more time than usual for this meeting, or, since everything had been in relative chaos around the Seireitei, had finally found some time to relax before their meeting. By Unohana's side was another pot of flowers that she was arranging, which her fingers were running over slowly. As Natsu walked up to take a seat on the other side of the tray of instruments, her captain was slowly leaning her head over to the side as she was peering over at the flowers. Natsu watched the motions of the delicate beings as they were rummaged through, trying to find a good position to settle into, and then a small shift occurred as whatever peace was around them was about to be shattered.

"What do you think, Natsu-san?" The captain spoke out as she held up the small vase in presentation. "Do you think it is appealing?"

"Sure," Natsu muttered out with a small shrug as she tapped her fingers onto her ankles and rested her elbows along her knees.

Unohana let out a small hum and placed the pot down so that she could angle herself better to the conversation instead of facing the outside. Ever so warmly, Unohana kept her knees under her and her hands folded pristinely over her lap, with her blue eyes taking in information with a smile on her face. She shifted only slightly to fix the out of order tools and then to deftly move the tray off to the side, with the small pot on top of the tray as well. Then she came back around and continued her observation in a mellowed silence, with her eyes blinking every once in a while.

Natsu shifted slightly under the gaze and then flickered her gaze out to the bushels and small sprouts. "Wha's up?"

"Earlier this afternoon there was another captain's meeting." Natsu found her eyes narrowing at the subtle message that was already being passed over to her. "With the new information as well as your work, we received confirmation from the messenger you sent out."

"Kay… An'?"

"You were correct in your assumption about the group with Urahara Kisuke. They have all chosen to remain in Karakura Town, though they did express their respects for both the apology and the offer as well as a joy in knowing they were no longer convicted felons."

Natsu let out a hum as her gaze slowly trickled back up to the captain. The older woman had lidded her eyes a bit and she let them trail down to caress the wood. Natsu shifted ever so slightly so that her left elbow was poking down onto her knee, and then she raised up her forearm so she could rest her head on top of her hand. It tilted her slightly away from the bittersweetness that seemed to come off in gentle waves from the woman from body position alone. Blue eyes locked with her own suddenly and there was a long plummet in her gut from the keenly observing, all-knowing waterfall that seemed to be behind Unohana's eyes.

"The vizards apparently were very torn on their decision, which many of us understood of course." The captain patted out the words like one would do for a wounded kitten though it only had Natsu just stopping the small flare in her lips. "However, they seemed to have taken the apology well."

"Cool."

Unohana's eyes moved away and back to the floorboards at the bland statement coming from her dried out mouth. There wasn't much to say after all, but even if Natsu had wanted to say something, she really couldn't get her own tongue to function properly. It had become too swollen in her mouth, inflating with the more uproarious comments or other dreary statements she could make in response to the entire situation.

"Upon the second request, some did express interest in returning back to Soul Society… Rather reluctantly they wanted to impress. However the former captains of the third, fifth, and ninth divisions, stated that they wouldn't mind continuing their positions seeing that there was a direct need for them."

"So tha meetin' was 'bout if they'd get tha positions."

"Yes," Unohana agreed immediately with a small nod of her head. Natsu watched the tiny spark that seemed to fly along the woman's hands as they tightened just slightly and then unclenched from that minuscule grip around cloth. Her eyes then went up to see the ever clear blues looking at her which sucked her into attention. "With the information having already been distributed of both the events on that night and all the evidence you put forward, there was… a pretty unanimous decision to bring them back."

"Tha's good then."

Unohana paused whatever her words could have been with a tiny narrowing of blue eyes, before the captain pushed on under Natsu's bland, contorted speech and facial expressions. "They will be back in Seireitei in just two days time and take up the positions."

Natsu found her eyes subconsciously fluttering shut at the blaze of the sun that was streaming down on them. It had been a full revolution, then. The sun rose one day and instead of blowing up, it went into a long sleep for one hundred years. Now it was on the rebound against the imposter that had replaced it, and was overpowering that fakeness, which had residing in the sun's rightfully inherited position for far too long, very quickly. The force of the blazing rays had her tucking her head down slightly and she slithered her eyes open to take in the ever blooming grass that made up the forth division. She let out a long sigh and gave a small nod of her head feeling the prickle of her captain still watching her.

Her eyes slithered to the corner of her eye to watch the observing gaze. "Tha's ya decision an' their's… Ain't got much ta do wit' me."

"I believed that you should know your work was successful."

"Ya kiddin', righ'?" Natsu smirked slightly. "It wasn't 'cause I wanted ta find caps, ya know? I jus' did it 'cause …. Well, 'cause it seemed fittin'."

"Of course," Unohana pleasantly stated as she let a smile blossom along her face. "This wasn't truly the reason I wished to speak with you, anyway."

"Eh?"

"Muguruma-taicho expressed interest in the idea of having Kuna Mashiro come along with him." Natsu furrowed her brows at the suddenness of the topic, though the captain proceeded anyway with her own line of dialogue. "However, as you know the ninth division already has a fukutaicho who is more than capable of doing the work."

Natsu gave a slow nod. "Kay?"

"Yamamoto-taicho, who was willing to acquiesce to the request, found a small loophole and has allowed the entrance of the woman as a holder as a 'personal assistant' of sorts, since having two fukutaichos is not allowed by law." Unohana let out a small shake of her head with her brows furrowing in some sort of amusement for the happening which left a lingering smile on her face. "I'm not sure exactly how that will work, but my assumption would be that the work would be split between the two of them."

The gut that had fallen over the waterfall had finally reached its destination a lake at the very bottom of a steep, steep drop. The gut hit so hard in the water there was instant damage as it began to expel all its insides to disseminate and destroy what was once clean water. It sunk lower and lower under the grips of the water's pressure, until it caught itself along the jagged rocks at the bottom of the lake, but it was too late. The water was unclear and tainted, and now, would never be able to wash away the source of contamination. Natsu opened her mouth to protest the sudden nervousness of being under those blue eyes but the captain shook her head, so all words became deafened by the wait.

"I've spoken with Yamamoto-taicho and he also believes that a promotion is in order… Your healing abilities are that of a strong fukutaicho and your combat skills are easily that of a third seat." Unohana chimed out as her eyes stayed firmly locked onto her so that Natsu couldn't make a single move other than her mouth slowly unhinging. "I will not, however, be appointing you to fukutaicho. That would simply be utter foolishness. How could I expect you to fulfill all that duty?"

Natsu blanched at the hits toward her own ego and to her disposition most likely. It was all cleverly disguised in mock concern for overtaxing her. The woman did care for the welfare of her subordinates but not to that extent. She was a captain who was in head of the healing division of a military organization. As such, there was only so much compassion she could exude before she really expected people to work up to the standards that she set forth in the healing division.

"Instead, I will have you hold a duel position of third seat with Yasuchika-san, as well as be a shadow and assistant for Isane-san." The woman finished with that smile still along her face and her eyes gently closing with her head tilted over in that innocent mannerism.

 _Perhaps this is what the old man meant, Natsu._

 _…. Fuckin' sucks._

"Ya know cap," Natsu put out slowly as her head felt ten times heavier at just the thought of all that work. "I fergot ta mention somethin' ta ya."

"What's that?"

"I'mma resigin'."

Unohana's eyes opened slowly though her smile stayed in place, and Natsu flicked her eyes away instantly from the darker image. "Now that's something you should mention before I give you such a wonderful gift, isn't it… Natsu-san."

Natsu fumbled for words over the instant sweat that took over her body. Unohana backed off only when it was clear that there was a resignation under the power, and an easy smile came back. Natsu, however, found her eyes flickering over to the side and a few choice grumbles finally getting out against the frozen air.

 _… Sucks._


	50. Chapter 49

Natsu picked apart the fabric that had covered up her closet for the fifth time in the minute. Her eyes would land on the object and she would shut the curtain again, leaving it as it had been for the past two months. She had made sure to keep it fully shut - so that the fabric hung from post to post - whilst she had spent so much time in the room preparing for the case. Now, she couldn't tell how long she had spent ripping the fabric back and forth as she stood in front of what was supposed to be her closet; not that she ever had very much to leave hanging in it. Finally, she clung tight to the fabric, drew the dense weight back with her hands, knuckles tight, and stared. She stared down at the instrument that had been sitting there for near thirty years. Her hands had made it without much of her brain's choosing, just like the sculpture she had made during her recent time at the Kotomi House of two united hands. Thankfully she had left that embarrassment back there. Her fingers slowly lifted the tired and burdened blue fabric from on top of the object and moved it so the old and stained scarf hung from the tension curtain pole that was there.

Before her stood, now completely unobstructed by anything, an originally designed phonograph. There had been one in the Kotomi House basically her entire childhood and it had been taken away from her view one hundred years ago by her grandfather; an attempt to make sure that she wouldn't destroy it on her rampages. She had already gotten to the record discs they kept around the house at the time that the phonograph had disappeared. She never mentioned it to her old grandfather but she found out exactly where he had stored it only a few months later. But she never wanted to reveal how important that piece of furniture was so she never let him know that it was okay to bring it out of that murky, collapsing corner of the house. So she may not have obliterated it, but, instead, years later she found herself disassembling the entire outside structure and using the parts to construct something completely new.

The top section was very much the same as any other phonograph. It was square with a ring for the turntable where the record would be placed. The handle for the crank stuck out of one end near the top, which was just for show since it was an electric piece and didn't need the crank to play the music. From the back came the large metal contraption connected by the back bracket. The tiny needle known as the reproducer, since it replicated the sounds, connected directly with the tone-arm which infused with the elbow which carried all the sounds from the record out of the horn which hung over the top of the turntable. The width of the horn at its largest was just about the length of the wood box, which held all the other mechanical parts inside.

The original part of the design was the new wood she had used to create the box. It was a dark burgundy, cherry color. It glistened from the varnish that she had used so frequently to make it entirely smooth and to stop it from cracking or chipping. She had even designed a small pattern on the sides once she had gotten bored with how bland it looked. It carried just the small twist of vines along the sides, and the back had a small initialing of her name. Not her actual name, just the pen name that she sometimes used to sign the pieces she was most proud of; two, tiny symbols that nearly disappeared into the corner. It would take a keen eye to spot it.

In addition to the phonograph itself, she had added another dimension which hadn't been on the original. Below the box which housed all of the musical mechanics of a phonograph, she had attached a long cabinet like structure to the bottom. It was made of the same color wood, and was sanded down just the same. It had tiny bulbs at the bottom of its legs. It came out just a bit wider than the instrument itself and gave the piece extra stability. The cabinet only had three sides, lacking a panel at the front to stay open.

The bottom piece added not only height to an otherwise small structure, so that it stood up to about her waist, but also convenient for holding records in it. A simple plank of wood split the cavernous space into two shelves. The spaces were deep enough to hold records without them poking out, and though she had never tested how much it could hold, she had assumed it was quite a lot given the slimness of the old records. There was only one in it now, laying prone and flat against the shelf since there were no other to make sure that it stood straight.

Since Natsu didn't want to dirty up her quarters at the barracks, she had worked on it over a very spread out six years at the Kotomi house. She liked to make sure that she straggled on completing the piece. It gave her less hours in the house, less time to sit in a dusty old room, and more time to walk around dream land. As it turned out, in between her missions, when she really needed the bed rest or when she got actual, mandated time off, most of the time, she had lost any motivation to look at the project let alone finish it. How many times had she contemplated trashing it before she had ever finished it? She had been close one or two times if she remembered correctly, and had even damaged it more than a few times when the urge became too much. But six years later she had stood before it. She tested it, with the only record that had made it through the damage, just that once to make sure that all the mechanics had worked. The music had run out just like she was thrust back right into part of her memory that could recall all the noises and the patterns. She had shut it immediately after that and, after tons of consideration, she brought it back to the room in the fourth division barracks.

Her fingers slowly traced the turn table, and she let out a tiny sigh. She slowly bent over and picked up the bottom with her hands and then tilted it back so that she could carry the piece at a slant along her body. It took some maneuvering as Natsu realized how unsustainable carrying it solely from the bottom would be. In the end, the backboard was flat against her chest while her other hand planted itself around the open curve that was the front of the cabinet. This way she could make sure that the record didn't fall out, and that the weight was evenly distributed through her entire body. She grumbled to herself slowly as she tried to figure out the best way of getting around Seireitei but she decided just on going the normal route.

She garnered more than a few curious glances and even some offerings to help her carry the piece, but she shook them all off. Her feet remained steady beneath her for the first time as she walked through the white walls. Only her hands moved awkwardly about as she constantly repositioned the weight and made sure nothing was sliding about. She edged wide around its bend so that she wouldn't accidentally run into anyone or another whitewashed brick on the turn. Her eyes continuously flicked around; in caution for the piece and making sure it wasn't chipping anywhere, although it wasn't possible to do so with just her hands; in nervousness when she was too close to walls or when she found her hands needing to reposition so that she wouldn't drop it; in slight worry as she tried to figure out if she was actually going in the right direction, though as a fourth division member she really should have known. Not that she had ever stepped into the compound, much like she had always avoided the ninth, third, and twelfth. She wanted to make this an easy and fast trip so that nothing would fall apart or that she wouldn't be questioned too much, but she also had to proceed with the utmost caution. She was an outsider after all.

"Is that… Kotomi-san?" Natsu turned slightly and ran into Hinamori Momo, who immediately looked rather curious. "What is that?"

The fukutaicho was up on her feet after so many months of healing, though she was running a bit slow due to the damage taken from the war. She had lost not only her side and many organs, but had also taken a stab very close to the heart. Not to mention the girl had not fully recovered from the initial set of injuries that she had sustained before the war; not including the mental issues.

Natsu hadn't been overseeing the operation but she knew it was only recently that the girl had rebounded fully to be able to go back to the fifth division and to take up her official mantel as fukutaicho. It had fallen mainly on the third seat to navigate the bureaucracy of leading in the mean time and the tenth division had taken up a lot of the slack due to the apparently close relationship between Hitsugaya-taicho and Hinamori. That being said, the fukutaicho wasn't going in completely empty. Once she had woken up, she was given deference in opinions about all the work that the fifth division had to do, even from her spot on the medical bed. That and she had a lot of support internally from the rest of the division who seemed to want to make the transition as easy as possible for the girl.

There had of course been a lot more work with the addition of new captains but not much of it had been "new" and that was making the frictious, awkward transition smoother. The only thing that Natsu could think of was that the Vizards had requested that all areas used specifically by the captains were to be cleaned up thoroughly. All three of the returning captains had also requested for their old rooms to be used, instead of the rooms that had been switched when the new generation of captains had come in. Natsu could understand their reasoning, as it would be a complete departure from the other captains in every other way, and be more like a fresh start. It did create a bit of a scramble in the three divisions as some of their work had been diverted so that they could prepare the rooms in just two days.

Before Natsu now was a still wary girl, which had little to do with the sudden need for energy they had to put in to cleaning out their barracks, and everything to do with being nervous about meeting a new captain; a former captain who had been tested and manipulated by the man that she had sickeningly followed around like a damn puppy. Natsu roved over the dark bags and the obvious windswept hair, that although was kept in a bun, was still very messy and almost looked knotted. Hinamori's slim body had lost even more weight and she looked just a bit more lively than a skeleton. The fukutaicho was in need of obvious rest and Natsu would have locked her up in the fourth division if she didn't know how important it was for the lieutenant to be part of the transition process. Still, the girl was making a recovery, and the stress was wearing her out completely thin; from the display of her shihakusho, the dryness of her face, and the lose of sheen in her hair.

"Fo' ya new cap."

"My… Captain." The words came out as if they were on a chopping block of new ideas; twisted, deformed and sawed down to a dusty residue of incredulity. Likely, she had never thought that she would say those words. There was a tiny waver of a smile before everything washed away with her eyes as they rose up to meet Natsu's own with a stronger lock. "We didn't order that, though."

"Ain't needin' no orderin'... Why don'cha let me put it down in 'is office?"

The girl stayed silent for a moment as she fiddled with her hands. "I'm not really sure. I don't want to upset him jus-"

"Trus' me. E's gonna like this," Natsu broke through and garnered a look from the woman that looked slightly awe inspired but still nervous. Maybe there had been a flash of curiosity, like someone was trying to put together a puzzle right before her. "'E don't like it, 'e still won't get angry at ya… 'Eard 'e's pretty chill."

Momo took another moment before she gave a small gesture to follow her in. Squad five was one of the stranger division barracks, Natsu decided as soon as she stepped foot into the space. The main houses like the eating room, wash rooms, and the kitchen were on the ground floor or at least Natsu assumed from the way the place smelled just as she was walking further in. They were also the largest buildings, made for communal spaces no doubt, and it would make sense that the biggest buildings lay below the ones higher up. That wasn't necessarily the strange part as most squads had a few high standing structures. What made the fifth division stand out was that there was tons of open space in the stone courtyard which was littered with the most shadows she had ever seen. Shadows which zig-zagged and crossed over one another. Natsu furrowed her brow as she saw the entrances to the sparse buildings in the courtyard and then tilted her up head up to note the abundance of bridges that were swamping and obstructing her view of the sky.

 _No wonda eve'thin' is cloudy even tho' i's sunny ou'._

"This must be your first time in here," Momo commented as Natsu turned her eyes away from one of the bridges they had walked under. "The fifth division is the only barracks I know that uses the second floor more than the first…. Apparently the area used to flood a lot."

"Eh? Tha's pretty bad."

"That was years ago though. I guess, they just didn't think about ever remodeling the place." The words came out in a small sigh and Natsu watched the fukutaicho's eyes which was quickly fading into a dark space. This entire place must be connected to memories, and the girl had no where she could disappear to.

Natsu grimaced slightly and then paused slightly as she saw that they weren't up but, instead, headed down to a small hallway on the ground floor. "So tha cap stays on the ground floor?"

"Huh? Yes." Momo looked a bit disconcerted as well and she watched her steps since she obviously hadn't gotten used to walking this way. "Apparently he always liked the ground floor. I guess, I'll just have to ask him why when he gets here."

The room that Natsu entered into was completely bare, minus a desk. Probably, the quickest way to make sure that captain was appeased with how un-Aizen the space was. There was another part that was closed off to the side with shogi doors, which she assumed would lead toward the bedroom that the captain would use. Delicately, she got Hinamori to lead her in there with a nudge of her head. Natsu's eyes now roved over the space until she landed on a small electrical outlet and she moved through the new space with just a tiny glide that was unnatural with her normal way of walking. It was easy to walk through a room that she didn't recognize, nor held any of the ghosts that she was used to seeing. It was just a simple room.

The weight smoothly dropped from her hands as she placed the phonograph just to the left of the outlet. She then hunched down to work the electrical wire from the bottom shelf and then out through a slim pocket she had made in the back corner so that it wouldn't trip anyone or be a hassle. The black wire came out easily and then she made due with plugging it in. There was a tiny spark and she drew back as she received the shock on her fingers, before she poked the rest of the plug into place.

"What exactly is it, Kotomi-san?"

"Natsu," she immediately corrected the voice behind her before giving the tiny girl a peek over her shoulder. "I's a phonograph… Plays music. Wanna 'ear?"

There was a small nod of agreement before Natsu was sliding the only record out from the shelf. The cover slipped off almost immediately as she titled the package to the side so that she could loop her finger into the hole at the center of the black record. She placed the cover onto the wood, as she circled the record slowly around her finger to begin and work off the dust. Then she took the time to blow away what was left with a few puffs, and the gray speckles floated around the air. She maneuvered the black disk around so that the edges could dig between the two palms of her hands, and gently put it down on the turntable. Her eyes took in the sight before she was placing the tiny needle down on the grooves.

"So ya jus' push down on tha crank 'ere." Natsu gestured to the small device and pushed it down slightly so that it wasn't parallel to the wood. Instantly the turntable began to spin around and just after sounds began to come out from the horn. "An when ya wanna shut it off, ya push it back up."

Natsu shut the music after only a few more moments and looked over at Momo more fully. The fukutaicho was still observing the entire piece with her eyes flourishing over it too quickly to really see anything. There was very little contact between the human world and Seireitei, and there were no classes offered about human society, so everything was new and strange. Rumors were so quick to follow anyone that had a mission there, and even after thousands of years of Shinigami going back and forth, there were still so many new things that Seireitei had no clue about. Ironically, the higher up one got, the less likely it was for them to have the ability to explore the human world as one became retained and tied to work that had to be done in Soul Society. Add that to the fact that most shinigami didn't have much interest in learning about the human world, things such a phonograph weren't typical knowledge for a shinigami; regardless of their standing.

Natsu only let out a long sigh and got the record off from the turntable and then back into its cover, before she left it slide along to its old resting position along the shelf. "I's jazz music. Ya should get used ta it from now on. - Don't gotta like it… Jus' deal wit' it."

Finally the girl's mouth began to move to say something. "Are you sure this will go over well?"

"Ya jus' now 'avin' those thoughts," Natsu quipped back with a burgeoning smirk at the suddenly flustered girl. She placed her hands calmly into her pockets as she watched Momo try to make her point more clear. "Ya worryin' too much. Like I said, 'e don't like it… 'E'll get rid of it."

"I'll tell him to return-"

"Don't wan' it." Natsu stuck a finger into her ear and looked off to the side. "'E don't like it, 'e can do wha'eva 'e wan's wit' it. But don't give it back ta me. I ain't got no use fo' it."

Momo's brows furrowed and there was a scrunch in her lips as she tried to figure it out. It probably did look very odd for Natsu to suddenly hand over an object like this without much explanation of what it was or why she had it in the first place. Then to act so confident about the placement of it in someone else's room was something that was probably even more off putting. And now, she wanted nothing to do with it?

"Tel' 'im it was jus' sittin' in someone's closet fo' a long time an' they didn't wan' it no more," Natsu explained out slowly as she began to trudge back outside and bypassed the flabbergasted fukutaicho. "Tha's wha' i's been doin'… Jus' knew tha' ya new cap 'as a thin' fo' jazz. Bit o' a rumor goin' 'round."

"Rumor?" Momo let out in a worried breath since she had missed out on something vital about the new captain she would be serving under for a long time. "This… Is it a present from Unohana-taicho then? Since, you know... he was the former captain. They must have known each other."

Natsu blinked a few times at the grudging admittance from the fukutaicho. Her words had come out very softly and with a pure sadness knowing the implications of what she was saying and how it made her lovable 'Aizen' look like the true culprit. The girl had a long time before she could ever speak that name properly. There was just a small flash in her own head about just how well the integration would go for all three divisions, although the fifth division would have the worst of it. Followed, only shortly behind by the third division. After all, Momo was the most emotionally invested in her captain, as was the entire division. The other divisions, at least, had members who were not so entirely victim to the facades of their captains.

She blinked a few times before remembering the conveniently placed excuse and the way out of the entire thing, so she latched to it quickly. "Yeah… I's from ma cap ta ya cap as a welcome 'ome presen'."

"Well please let her know we're honored to receive it and we'll make sure to tell her how our captain-"

"Yeah, yeah." Natsu waved off the long words before giving the girl a smirk. "Ya really flappin' ya gums… Sounds like ya need some sleep."

Momo let out a tiny laugh as she fixed at her fringe just a bit before she settled her hands in a wrapped collision down by her front. "It really is unsuitable isn't it? … I'll make sure to get a good night's rest so I can greet the captain properly tomorrow."

"Can't go lookin' ugly." Natsu gave slow agreement to which got the girl flustered just a bit again. "Gotta go. Jus' came ta deliva tha'… See ya."

Natsu waved off the gesture to be walked back out, knowing she could retrace her steps easily in a place like this. She made her slothing steps a bit longer than normal so that she could get out of the rainforest of bridges much faster. The sun seemed to have disappeared during her small meanderings in the fifth division. There were no hands to reach out and collect her again, since she really had never stepped foot into the compound. There was, however, shattered glass all along the floor of the broken promises and the dreams which were turning to dust as her lion roared in a full blazing heat.

* * *

Natsu's eyes slowly fluttered opened during her afternoon nap that day from the sudden surge of new reiatsu in the air which had come not just as a signal but also as a slight warning to any that opposed the situation that was in transaction. The soft undertones came along with that tingle of spices under her nose, most prevalently cinnamon, and the slight fusion of a tight bolt in her throat as she swallowed thickly. Her stomach revolted up for a minute and she found her own reiatsu sparking in response to the fake call. She yanked, nearly desparate, at the flares of her reiatsu and finally managed the shut down the bursts that were going out.

Her hand gripped onto the back of her head as she pushed it down until her nose was buried down into the grass. She dug into her skin until she was grasping onto the longer strands of her fuzzy Mohawk. When finally that wasn't enough, her fingers made a clean get away and wrapped into themselves. Tight fists wormed into her head instead of tiny puncture wounds. She took in the crisp scent of grass and dirt deeply to get rid of the flare of heat from the cinnamon in her nose as she tried to remain stitched down the ground. Then she drew her knuckles along the skin of her head several times, leaving the faint taint of their harsh scrap, until she flattened her hand back out and pressed herself that much tighter.

The old man had decided on something slightly less formal for the welcoming ceremony of the three re-instated captains and the one fukutaicho. Most likely due to the fact that it was an unprecedented event and even the Sou-taicho wanted to demonstrate how different the Gotei 13 could be. A meeting halfway in some sorts. So, instead of whisking them away into the first division, where only the heads of the inner-divisions were made aware of the change, the old man had switched tactics.

The ceremony was held right outside the main senkaimon and was the official presenting of the captain haoris as well as a few words. All the captains had been mandated to be in attendance of the place along with their fukutaichos. However, it was open to the public as well and the new concept had gotten more than a few eager whispers over the two days. It was probably that anyone who wasn't busy at the time with their duties was finding a way to trickle over to the area to see the newcomers. More than enough rumors had been spread since the war and everyone seemed eager to know exactly who and what they were talking about.

She hadn't been formally invited to the welcoming ceremony by the old man nor had he requested her appearance with a more forceful command. Unohana hadn't even spoken to her about attending the ceremony. In fact, her presence was probably only missed by Ayako who had decided to attend. Her mentor's ties with the past, due to her old age, made it a bit more conceivable that she wanted to be there, in an odd way. Perhaps, there was a small measure of excitement at the prospect of seeing memorable faces again.

Her mentor had attempted to get her to attend. After all, it had been her hard work that had even allowed for the prospect of their return. The information hadn't be widely disseminated, of course, and the Sou-taicho had blocked any communication coming from the top after the court case. No one even knew who the Sou-taicho was looking at for to take over the empty captain positions. It was just as it always had been.

It wasn't that there was anything swearing people to secrecy, either. The fukutaichos could have talked about it, though they hadn't, or someone in the top five seats of division one could have gossiped. It was simply that it didn't matter. No one cared for the twentieth, now third seat, that had given Soul Society a few more options. In the long run she'd disappear into nothing more than a small mention in a history textbook, at best, for her reasoning against the Central 46 and maybe for her working with the ryoka. Only the fukutaichos and the captains knew all of it.

Natsu had grudgingly given the story to Ayake seeing that she'd never get to sleep other wise, and that was just fine with her. She waved the woman off, seconds before she could truly insist on it. It was too much work, would require too much movement, would force her to be around too many people, and was just too much standing about. She had no interest in seeing the Vizards again, and she had much needed sleep that she could get caught up on. Unohana still hadn't coughed up on the sleep that had been promised to her for healing Yuko, although she had spent a little over three months out of service to the fourth division.

Her eyes scrunched shut as she could basically make out the way that people were probably clapping. It sent small shock waves through the air and every now and again the wind stopped so that it could create a bolster against the hands that were trying to trap it with every movement of the individual's hands in that massive crowd. It could have also been her imagination. With her nose buried in deep, and knowing that there was no one around for miles around, just once she let out a guttural groan into the never speaking earth beneath her. Her lungs breathed out fury and black smog until she choked just the slightest bit on a sodden piece that had gotten trapped into her throat.


	51. Chapter 50

"Oh… She's here!"

Natsu fluttered her eyes slightly open but they soon came back down shut as she didn't recognize any of the voices in the dreary depths of her dreams. They flew back open not a moment later as the wind left her lungs rapidly. Spiking up from the ground, she let out several grumbles as she rubbed at the spot on her chest that was most likely going to leave a bloody, red looking dot on the skin below her clothing. She blearily looked up to see a group was slowly coming up around her, minus a smug looking Renji who towered over her, before she cleared out the rest of the dreariness from her eyes. When she opened them more clearly she made out the several faces that she really hadn't gotten to see in her tiredness.

Renji grinned at her with his finger pointed down toward the ground. Curiously she peered down to see a small package had been the thing tossed onto her chest, slide down to her stomach, and was the root cause of disruption of her late evening nap. She turned back as he spoke, "Ayako's… She wanted to be here but she decided it was best if it was just us."

"Us?" Natsu questioned slightly as she looked over towards the group that was wandering up behind him. "Tha's lots o' people."

"You're in luck," Rukia chirped out as she flung herself into a seat right by her prone side, so close that their clothes swiped at one another playfully. "Everyone was in the celebrating mood… And this is the first night that we could all spare."

Natsu furrowed her brow slightly before she slid her head back around to see that people were setting up a large picnic blanket. She lifted her feet as Izuru beckoned her to do, and then set them back on top of the tan tarp as she crossed her legs. Her back still lay down on the grass, though she had to lift her butt into the air to make sure that the tarp didn't bunch underneath her lower back and disturb her. In befuddlement, she watched the proceedings, as some set out a few baskets with odd assortments of foods, plates, and other accouterments. Others placed down sake, which amounted to more than she had ever seen, or other types of drinks.

When it was all done, she stared at the grand group that was taking seats at various places on the tarp. It was the oddest collection of people she had ever witnessed, purely because she had very rarely ever seen them altogether, and probably the biggest group she had ever been around. Rukia sat by her with Renji on the other side of the young noble. Rangiku had taken to her right side, followed by Yumichika – a horrible choice - and then Iba and Ikkaku on the other side of the circle. At the other end of the looped circle were Izuru, Shuuhei, Momo, and then Isane to finish the link up by the red head.

"Wha's goin' on?" Natsu whispered over to Rukia again. She didn't even know most of the people at the scene, or more like she hadn't anticipated hanging out with most of them all in one go. The only ones she had no real interactions with were Shuuhei and Momo, whilst the rest she had presumed would take initiative to come and talk to her separately. "Ya interruptin' ma nap."

"Such a party pooper, Natsu," cheered Rangiku as the blonde woman wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her towards her bosom. "We're celebrating. That's all."

Natsu got her head free with a bit of pushing, and then a sly hand poking at the underside of the woman's breast. Rangiku let go of her in a joking whisper of being ticklish there which resulted in a strange, twisted grimace on her face. She then moved on to face the group who were branching into their own conversations easily and the sound in the area was slowly overtaking what had used to be just the minuet, octave-scurrying scream of cicadas. Her brows furrowed again and she found a small pout coming along her lips. It may not have been the best time for a nap seeing that it was close to a regular bed time; not that she had ever cared for a regular sleep schedule. However, she hated being woken up the most. She had specifically picked the clearing furthest away from the fourth division barracks for that very purpose. Though they were still on the territory of the fourth division, it was just on the cusp of the forested area that bordered with the second division, and hardly anyone ever went out this far since it was far from the actual buildings.

"Like I said, this is the first moment that people could really get together." Rukia broke through her thoughts and Natsu merely gave her a small glance.

Only four days ago the new captains had taken up their positions. It was true that there had been a small ruckus as everyone was trying to get acclimatized to the differences. Divisions three, five, and nine had been in near lock down and running twenty-four seven to speed up the process since there had been so much to cover apparently. It sounded like such a pain to her, and she had been so glad she wasn't in one of those divisions. Though, if she bothered to compare, she had probably spent more sleepless nights overseeing her patients cumulatively than all the members of all three divisions had in the past four days. She just didn't like to think of those nights, wandering in and out of her naps. No fun there. There was still tons more work to do, but if this gathering was anything to go by the initial days of the fever had finally passed. Now they could all take a much slower pace in healing themselves.

"Right! So drink up!" Rangiku spluttered into her ear.

Natsu titled away and pushed away the pro-offered glass. "Ya know I don't drink tha' stuff."

"You don't drink?" Renji questioned and Natsu turned to him with a narrowed look. "I'm not judging… Just curious. Especially since you're friends with Rangiku."

"When ya deal wit' takin' care of tha afta'ffects an' ever'one grumblin' 'bout hangovas o' upchuckin' ever'thin' they got in em stomachs, alcohol loses i's appeal." Natsu put out blandly as Rangiku made a show of showing that they had brought tea. Deftly she pointed to the bag that she wanted and the blonde was happy to make up her glass. "'Sides got drunk once an' tha' was a 'orrible nigh'."

The cup of tea was smoothly placed into her hands and then she was offered the assortment of sandwiches and other more traditional snacks that she had been prepared. Oddly she found herself wanting some of those breads she had just gotten a small taste of down in the human world. They looked like they would really suit a place in the wide spread of things that they had collected from onigiri to the skewers and hot meals.

"I had no idea you knew Ayako, either." Renji had a huge lump sticking from his cheek as he half chewed the food in his mouth while speaking. "But you guys must be pretty close… What she get you?"

Natsu slithered her eyes down to the brown package that had fallen in the large hole between her crossed legs. She lifted it up slightly and gave it a soft squeeze to feel that whatever was inside gave way easily to her. She had a faint idea from the smoothness of the package and how nothing was wrinkled. It also helped that she knew Ayako pretty well and had usually received the same things from her. The woman liked to give accessories given the fact that clothes weren't really a priority for Shinigami when they wore the same things all the time.

"Probably some type o' fabric," Natsu murmured under her breath.

Her fingers picked easily through the tape that the woman had used to connect everything together and make the package as compact as possible. Just the tips had to be cut up since the tape was the most durable at that spot, but then she was able to slink a thin digit horizontally so as not to rip the rest of the packaging. She only undid one end, and then let the fabric slid out and pooled into her lap as it unraveled.

The packaging stayed faithfully in tact in her one hand as she peered down at the turquoise scarf that had fallen out. Her fingers slowly ran over the cashmere, silken material. Unlike the other one that had been ruined, this one had the impress of squares along it, though it did nothing to get rid of the softness of the material. The end was slightly tassled which made the borders just a bit harder; something she only noticed when she rubbed the seems together and the faces remained completely in place where as if there hadn't been a strong border, the sheets of fabric would have distorted.

"That's very nice," Rukia commented softly.

Natsu gave a tiny hum and then placed the packaging down for just a little bit. She flipped the scarf out, doing her best to angle it away from the food and prying eyes, to see that it ran longer than anticipating. If she had to assume it probably would fall down to her lower back if she wrapped it just once around her neck and let the rest dangle. Then she went about folding it up into a neat square. Just as she was about to place it back into the package, her eyes fell down on the Kotomi clan symbol that had been sewed in. Her finger gave it a small trace before the entire piece disappeared into the tan package.

"You won't wear it?"

Natsu gave the girl a small shake of her head. "Don't feel like it, righ' now…. Pass ova tha inari, yeah?"

It was just about sunset and she could at least stretch back a little and get in some food while she watched the sun disappear into the trees. It wouldn't be a bad way to finish out a day. Not that she had really been doing much at all for the past four days except trying to avoid all the work that Isane, Yasuchika, and Unohana were trying to put off on her. But running around did get tiring.

* * *

When the sun had finally disappeared altogether, the moon came out of hiding from its shadowy spot in the sky. When that had happened, the very sensible Rukia and dragged Renji away from his drinking to put up a few lanterns so that they could keep the party going. Drearily, Natsu watched the proceedings. As the environment changed, so did the groupings that had initially been so peaceful. Rangiku had squirmed her way over to her normal drinking buddies of Izuru and Shuuhei. Thankfully none of them were too inebriated since they had stuck to tea for most of the evening, but they were just slightly tipsy now as the three began to grumble or let out a shout every now and again. Momo and Isane had stayed where they were, as had Natsu and Rukia. Although they had to shift just slightly as Renji decided to opt for the other side and join with all the eleventh division, or former eleventh division in Iba's case.

Things remained mainly quiet between Natsu and Rukia, though they had somehow maintained conversation even as Natsu tilted fully back and laid out. She had dumped her head into her hands as she wove her fingers into some sort of net to catch it before her skull touched the ground. Her legs had stayed loosely crossed, and she had shifted her pelvis down just slightly to lessen the tension. It got her a few comments from the chuckling group but she was waved it off with a semi-silent grumble.

"So you just left them like that?" Rukia stated with a small appalled look on her face. "What if the wounds got infected like that?"

Natsu snorted slightly and shook out her head, as she finally crawled over to her side and rested her hand in a propped up arm. Instead of holding her cheek, she tilted her head just slightly so that her fingers were wrapped around the back of her head. At that angle she could still make out the purple night sky and still see Rukia's face at the same time. Her knees tucked in slightly as she curled up, and her other hand had fallen forward to rest upon the grass that she was so used to.

"It was ta teach em somethin'…. 'Zuru was bein' an b—"

"I was not being an idiot, senpai," the blonde called over and she tipped just a bit to see over her shoulder at the faux-glare he was sending her. "It was unnecessarily cruel… Doing that your patients."

Natsu stuck of her tongue slightly. "Ain't ma fault ya dis'gree wit' ma bedside manner."

"It could do with a lot of work senpai."

"Jeez… Getting' 'igh an' mighty ain't ya." Natsu wagged her finger and then pointed at him with a finger. "'Cause ya 'ad ta do so much durin' tha war, maybe? Don't go thinkin' ya can jus' outdo me."

"Yeah, yeah," Renji suddenly spluttered out from her back and she tipped round to see him waving his hand with a grin along his features. "Cause you're so 'good', right?"

"Betta than ya… I beat three 'ponents in Hueco Mundo. 'Ow many ya get?"

Yumichika let out a small snicker as his own smiling face popped out from behind Renji's frame and he raised a small eyebrow. "That's an awfully eleventh division way of demonstrating your superiority, Natsu."

"Yeah. Thought you were a healer," Ikkaku supplied, though she couldn't make out his face. His tone was enough for her to make out the snide amusement.

"All ya care 'bout Ren, Yumi, an' baldie…" Natsu cut off as Ikkaku finally emerged from the group as he stood up and slowly drew out his sword. She wiggled her eyebrows just faintly before looking back at all the faces of the fighting group. "Is bein' figh' bokes…. Why should I use otha things ta 'xplain somethin' when ya ain't gonna listen ta smart reasonin'?"

"Are you calling me dumb?" All three put forth.

Natsu blinked slowly a few times and then grinned. Her eyes slowly traveled back over to Rukia as she put a hand over her mouth, and then let out a very loud whisper, "they actually go' tha'. Wha'cha think 'bout tha' Ru? Pretty surprisin' ain't it?"

Rukia straightened out her features and gave a very solemn nod. "I thought with the amount of words you used, it might have thrown them off."

"Now, now," Rangiku suddenly clambered in tipsy excitement.

Natsu jerked her attention away from the young noble to see that the blonde woman had traveled so that her tall body was standing behind the fighting group and was patting that back of Ikkaku's head. The quick, stingy slaps were strong enough to resonate through the entire group. The bald man's eye was twitching but he made no moves to swat it away, meaning that Rangiku must have said something to the man. Instead, Natsu paid little attention to that detail as she saw that Rangiku was slowly raising her sake cup up to the sky. Natsu furrowed her brow and heard the small sounds of shifting and turned around to see that Momo and Isane were passing out glasses of sake to everyone.

Her eyes trailed back over to the blonde woman who was grinning brightly as she began to speak, "there's no need to interrupt a celebration with a fight… So le—"

"Oh~ Retsu-san was right. Mind if we join in?"

The entire group paused and Natsu slowly titled even further onto her back so that she could look past Rangiku's frame to look at the new group. It was not just composed of Kyoraku, much to the sudden grating in her head, but several others which she could tell by the shifts in the grass. Ukitake was waving just slightly as he was coming up, while Yuko was between the two elder captains, creating some sort of diagonal line. Beyond them, the three newly re-invited captains were also walking up and each step they took seemed to loom as the grass underneath their feet crinkled more strongly.

There was a resounding set of shrieks or tiny yells as the fukutaichos were springing up or at least righting their posture to welcome the set of captains. Natsu dumped her head all the way backwards, letting the weight carry her onto her back, and tossed the sky a very intense glare. Her nose scrunched up at the emergence of that spice again by her nose and she tried to wiggle it out so as to get that itchy feeling out of her nose. She hated that feeling of just being on the cusp of sneezing. Faintly, she could make out the lion that suddenly let out a tiny growl which choked out to a very rough purr. She stamped down on the coddling feeling in her chest and whacked harshly at the lion's nose as hard as she could, as the curses rang out through her head like hits of a baseball bat. Somewhere off in the distance, Kyoraku's smart whines began to play out.

"Just this time, taicho," Rangiku ceded. "I really don't want Nanao-chan getting angry at me."

Yuko interceded before the brown haired man could say anything. "Don't worry about that. I'll keep him in line."

"Yuko-chan~."

Natsu let out a very long sigh which helped her to drown out the flirtation. It was surprising to see the two of them a couple, as she had only presumed their connection was close because Yuko had formerly been a member of the thirteenth division and the former captain had been rather close to Ukitake when she was there. Natsu thought that it had been rather platonic between Yuko and Kyoraku, but she had heard the rumor going around about them very shortly after Yuko was freed of her charges. They hadn't been purposefully trying to keep it secret or show it off to the world, but Seireitei was getting so much news that everyone was trying to eagerly grasp at whatever was new. The war had turned everyone into gossip mongers, but at least the Shinigami was mostly on the look out for positive things. If anything good came out of it, it was probably that Yuko was far more level-headed than the man and it appeared that she could reign him in effectively enough.

Natsu forced herself to get up into another cross legged position as everyone was moving around and she didn't want to be placed in a situation where she was sitting next to someone she really shouldn't be. Being next to a captain would just be too stifling. Also, people walking over her prone body was just rude. The captains took a seat on one side in a long row, and Natsu had very willingly given up the closer position on the mat to Rukia, who now acted as a gate keeper. She twisted around so that she was keeping her profile to the picnic, and was facing Renji most directly. She had a firm position on the grass and edged somewhere between the circumference of light from the lanterns, which also were used to keep any bugs away from the remaining food, liquids, and their own bodies, and the dark edges that were only illuminated by the moon.

She dedicatedly placed her chin into the hand closest to the mat to at least keep up the appearance and not give away that she was already half-way away from the conversation. In her other hand she carried her small sake glass, which she peered at curiously before turning over to the group. She found Rangiku easily, for the woman even when sitting stood out from everyone else, and got the blonde's glance with a small gesture of her hand. "Ya were sayin'?"

"Right," the blonde chirped out instantly and then raised her hand holding her own sake cup slightly. "A toast to a successful victory and the end of long, hard days."

Natsu stared at the glass for just a moment. It wavered up by her nose giving her a faint wiff of regret, and she was just about to pass it off as the relaxed mood had already disappeared with the captain's joining them. As the cup was traveling further away from her nose, her eyes closed in on the clear liquid. Within two seconds she found the liquid tipped over in her throat because some of the liquid was probably what she would need before she could find an excuse out of the slowly worsening situation. She let out a small grunt at the burning it trail the alcohol left and then gave an easy toss around Rukia's shoulders so the cup landed on the mat.

"Also," Isane suddenly put in and Natsu leaned on her arm just slightly to get a view of the fukutaicho around Renji. "Something a bit more personal… But, I mean it is why Unohana-taicho let us host this tonight… Congratulations, Natsu-san, on your promotion."

Natsu let out a grumble as her eyes flickered off to the dark. At least she had a small answer to why Kyoraku had been able to interrupt them with the assortment that was following behind him. He had alluded to it with his name drop, but now she had a permanent person she could really blame. Her eyes narrowed slightly at how not so innocently her captain must have passed along the information.

They were brought back from the darkened tree-line by the sudden bark from Ikkaku. "Who'd a thunk you were third-seat material?"

"That is true, senpai." Natsu snapped her eyes over to a slyly smirking Izuru. "You've always been so against it…. Will I have to actually call you fukutaicho soon?"

"Ya kiddin' righ'?" Natsu huffed out slightly and then smirked. "Tha 'mount o' work ain't a good trade off…. I'mma 'lready doin' ma bes' ta 'void tha 'mount righ' now."

"If only you put that much energy into actually doing work." Isane let out a small whine as her head dumped.

The entire group snickered as Natsu just gave a shrug bringing about another small whine from the female fukutaicho. Yuko asked the silverette a small question, to which the fukutaicho went on as close to a rant as Natsu had ever heard. It detailed the most recent attempt to avoid work, which included a strange version of hide and seek for nearly two hours. Then she had made a small excuse about having not eaten yet, and she couldn't possibly do work on an empty stomach. She disappeared for another three hours after that, only for Isane to find her dozing off on a roof in the thirteenth barracks.

"You couldn't have been nicer, Natsu?" Yumichika spoke out with a small wave of his hand.

Natsu gave another shrug. "I wanna sleep when I wanna sleep."

"That's all day for you, 'Miss. I need fourteen hours a day'."

"Shuddup Ren…. Need ma beauty res' ya know?"

"Oh I quite agree with that," Yumichika contributed. "Sleep is important for the complexion and keeping the face nice and youthful looking."

Renji thrust a nasty glare over to her to which she had stuck her tongue out since he caught on immediately to what she had done when Yumichika practically galloped away on the topic. Everyone else learned, even if they weren't curious, instantly why she had said that particular phrase as Yumichika went into a small tirade about the positive effects of a restful night, which was quickly broken up by Ikkaku. It resulted in a small squabble between the two, which at least helped to break the tension among the whole group and start up different conversations.

Natsu turned her head round at the call of her name and looked over at the brown haired man who gulped down another cup of sake. "It's a big jump. Twentieth, to shadow fukutaicho…. I was so certain you would do everything in your power to avoid something like this."

"Ya wanna go up 'gainst tha cap?" Natsu put out blandly to which Kyoraku immediately let out a sympathetic chuckle and nodded along. "Trus' me… I'd really ratha be sleepin' than doin' papa'work."

"So what exactly did you do to receive your promotion for, Natsu-chan?" She found her eyes narrowing slightly at the dreary grin that was spreading along that sly, captain's dopy lips. This was exactly why she had both respected the man and hated him at the same time. His demeanor wasn't faked but it was exactly as it should be for a conniving thinker. "Was it the work before, during, or after the war?"

There was an immense amount of viscous goop along her body; like thirty extra layers of bodies on top of her own. When she finally remembered that she had a body which she could actually move it took forever to register how to move exactly as if her body had short-circuited and had needed to re-boot to remember its coding. She dished out her struggling heart as it pulsed harder to get the adrenaline up, but she was wading through a deep cement that kept her mainly locked. Time seemed around her in that one instance, just like that moment when she saw Sekhmet lunging for her jugular, and everything became instantly so clear. The calls of the voices of the three new captains and their questions. The inclusion of all the voices as they eagerly retold war stories, or spy stories more like it. It was fallacy that helped to crack through the hard armor. They whispered only slim details of what had happened and the small trigger of rage started. She was only instantly grateful for the fact that everything sped back up, like rewinding a tape, and she could make out in real-time all the events going around now that the shock had passed.

"Tha ol' man said somethin' 'bout responsibility." Natsu pushed out and cut off all the other conversations. "Don't do well listenin' ta rambles from ol' men though… Say tha same thin's ova an' ova 'gain. Borin', ya know?"

"I totally agree~." The brown haired man twittered out as if he didn't know that he had led the elephant straight into the room from the moment he had come up to them, and then unleashed a stampede from his way of talking. His brown eyes, though, gave him away enough. "But I can't really disagree."

"It is well deserved." Ukitake suddenly cut through the tension and gave a small wave of his hand to blow out the fizzling contact between their two sets of eyes. "Your wo—"

"Don't care."

"You knew t-" Another gruff voice was climbing in.

"Oh!" Momo popped out suddenly and the entire group shifted over slightly to peer at the suddenly excited girl. A few looked equally startled as revelations seemed to dawn on their slackened faces but they remained silent - in their shock or out of understanding was unknown - as they let Momo become their voice. "It all makes so much sense now. I wondered why Hirako-taicho looked so familiar."

"Hey."

"I mean all your effort…"

"Hey."

"And you made sure that you were covered."

"Oi."

"And then taking the time at Cen-"

"Shut up!" Natsu snapped out. The girl turned two wide, brown eyes over at her and Natsu gulped down the rest of her poisonous spit.

There was a sudden clearing of a throat and Natsu trailed her eyes half way over the distance and stopped just at the legs of the man. It had only a been quick sound, just like what she heard in the human world, but now with it so close to her ears, it was hard to stand. His voice came out like half a dream as she tried to finally place that ever present Osaka-ben that she had copied for so long. It took a long time to make sense of the slightly deeper rasp and the smooth cut in the air that wasn't her's, since her voice had been the only voice she had ever heard with the accent, and now someone else was talking like her. Yet it was intensely familiar and it immediately had her body jerking and even her cell's responding as small bumps appeared along her skin. It tripped the blood in her veins into an intense rage that was painful to hear as it pounded and she wished that Tumula had kept her ears permanently deafened.

"Tha's wha' ya gonna say ta me?" Natsu whispered out. "Afta mo' than 'undred years ya think ya can jus' reprimand me?"

"I ain't reprimandin' as a fatha, but as tha captain o' tha fifth division. Ya can't go speakin' ta a fukutaicho, least all mine, like that."

Under the faint calls of reprimand from his friends, Natsu felt guarded enough to look up into the brown eyes. They were still easily half-lidded, covering up the hazel that were his eyes with his long lashes as he calmly observed her back. His face had stayed the same, with its angular cut, and the small pocket in his lips which showed his long, dazzling white teeth. His blonde hair, though, had been cut short into a bob length, and the fringe was longer over by his right eye creating a tiny diagonal cross through his forehead.

Natsu took a moment to realize that her heart had really stopped beating. As they stared eye to eye with one another, she had nothing. She felt a bit like the empty pockets she was also stuffing her hands into. Her eyes narrowed down as she thought of something she should feel in its place. Desperately, her flung herself out to catch for the crumbling structures that made up some sense. But the sense of sanity and resolution shook her to the bones as she realized that there had almost never been anything to grasp a hold of in the first place.

 _Tha's… Righ'. Tha's righ'. - Tha reason Kisuke destroyed ma life._

"Righ'," she finally whispered out and then flashed him a smirk which got her a tiny shift in the facial features. And she pounced as she saw the nervous glint that flashed behind his eyes. "Cause tha's all ya eva wanted ain't it? Ya wanted a fukutaicho ya could orda 'round… Nice i's a girl this time, ain't it?"

There were a moment of silence where the whispers of everyone's thoughts and the chosen reprimands, fell dead at her words. If anyone was thinking something, they kept it very tightly stuck in the back of their throats or stopped the process of creating words to sentences altogether. Natsu let out a small chuckle and then began to rise to her feet. She was followed by the eyes that were on her, but they had no power over her from the height that she reached. She slumped her hands into her pockets and gave a grin to the group before she singled out onto the man.

A small hum left her before her mouth started moving again. "Thank fuckin' god I'mma done wit' tha' bullshit. 'Undred years really changes shit. Tha only power ya 'ave is as a captain, ya know? So don't put tha sen'mental stuff inta ya sentences 'gain."

"I ca… I can't have you speaking to Hirako-taicho like that. - Even if you are his daughter."

Natsu slowly turned over to Momo who had also risen. Her eyes flickered down to see that Izuru was urging her to sit back down and remain quiet, but the brunette made no signs of moving. Instead her face remained resolute and set in that determined way to take on a battle, even if it was only words.

"Awfully eaga ta figh' fo' some person ya jus' met, ain't ya?"

Momo took in a deep breath and seated herself firmly in her resolution. "He's my captain and as fukutaicho of the fifth divison -"

"Yeah, yeah. I know all tha rules." Natsu waved away and then slumped down a bit more so that she could cradle that fire of rage in her voice. "I fin' it funny cause… Ya know, you ain't known 'im fo' very long. Duty talkin', righ'? Ya trus' tha system ta 'ave picked a decent cap fo' ya ta follow. An' ya gotta folla all tha rules an' trus' 'im too…. Got'cha all figured out. - Problem is ya talkin' wit' someone who ain't eva respe'ted any o' tha'."

"I... Na-" It was a frightened quake from the small girl that vocalized the abrupt worry of all those in the group.

"I's necessary. Can't think o' anythin' ta replace wha' we got so I can't really whine 'bout it…" Natsu raised an eyebrow and then let out a long chuckle to staunch her quivering lips. "But I only folla people stronga, an' tha' lines up wit' tha people wearin' tha coats. I's instinct, ain't it? An I'mma animal jus' tryin' ta keep livin'. Tha's the only reason I gotta play nice ta tha caps."

Natsu raised an eyebrow and then sighed out a small laugh at the harsh silence that surrounded her. She didn't bother looking around at the mimicked faces of the rest of the people, since it was all so accurately depicted in the distressed lines along Momo's face. "Don't ya think i's strange? Tha' I could so easily switch sides when I shoulda been followin' all tha white coats?"

Momo gulped down slightly and then let out a small stuttered, "duty."

"Duty? Nah…. Ain't duty." Natsu waved at the words and sent them tumbling down to the ground before they could fully reach her ears and send them burning. "I's called bein' objective an' tha' means I don't follow symbols. Jus' thin's tha'll impede ma way o' livin'."

"That makes no sense. Why would you do everything then?" Momo suddenly cried out with flinging arms, even as Izuru was trying to get her settle down again.

If it hadn't worked when the situation was just a little bit calmer, it wasn't going to work now, and Natsu fastened herself to that. "Cause i's tha best karmic turn 'round I've eva seen…. I liked tha idea of bein' able to stand on top and laughin' while seein' everythin' crumblin' f-."

"That's enough." Natsu titled her head just slight with her mouth instantly locking up at the sound of the man's voice. "You've said more than enough Natsu."

"Can't 'ave ya callin' me so familia-"

"Once up'n a tim', I rememba ya wantin' ta be a fuk'taicho unda me an' servin' yer du-."

Natsu sweeped down and flung the package straight at his face to block out the view that the words were giving her. He made no move as he let the package fall down right into his waiting hands, to display the tired look in his eyes. She glared directly at him and unable to swallow anything she thrust her finger through the air at him. "You have no right to speak to me… None. Who the fuck are you?"

He stayed absolutely silent for just one moment as his eyes roved over the situation. He slumped just slightly in his posture and let out a long sigh. "Someone ya used ta know."

"Exactly," Natsu spat out quickly. "You're just a man in fucking white coat and... An' ya think tha' gives ya powa ova me?" Her feet finally stuttered back to life and she rapidly stumbled away from the group. Her feet fell quicker than her brain could even process as she flung back words as if they were bakudo spells. "Fuckin' 'ate tha lot of ya… Nothin'. Ya ain't nothin' but fuckin' symbols."

* * *

 **A/N: Well that went well, didn't it?**

 **Hahahaha, honestly, this was such a wonderful chapter to get to and, while I had difficulty with writing the chapter, I really was looking forward to it since when I started. I just couldn't have them getting along, and yes, Natsu is supposed to be crazy here. She's just a ball of messy emotions.**

 **I hope you all found it realistic! I just don't want this to be mary-sue is all.**

 **Only two chapters to go!**


	52. Chapter 51

"What the fuck just happened?" Renji finally managed to splutter out as everyone turned back to the picnic after watching the cynic who had long disappeared from the area. He blinked a few times, still processing the dreary, but wet with anger, tirade that Natsu had gone on, and then looked over at the captains who were staring at one another. "I know it's out of place… But did you just come here to fuck up an evening?"

"Renji," Rukia whispered out harshly as she snagged at the sleeve of his shihakusho.

At least the captains didn't look so put off by the breech of conduct and politeness and appeared more bemused by the entire situation. Then again, if the lieutenants were barely able to piece together the entire timeline of events than, at least, the new captains were warranted some time to be confused. Not so much the other captains; though it appeared that Ukitake was more upset with Kyoraku than normal as he had a finger pointed very adamantly at the man. Hushed words passed between them only heard by Yuko, was was increasingly growing stiff from her posture close to the brunette.

Ikkaku cleared out his throat and let out a long, vocalized sounding groan, before he continued to talk as if he was surrounded by only long time drinking buddies. "Haven't seen her like that in ages…. Good job Kyoraku-taicho."

"When was the last time?" Yumichika made a show of thinking cutting through the brunette's attempt at whining to defend himself. "Oh… Around the academy, wasn't it?"

"Come on Rukia. Stop." Renji gently yanked at his sleeve as the petite girl's grip which was less than half-hearted. "It's clear… Kyoraku-taicho you must have known this would happen when you brought it up. Lead the fuckin' elephant into the room, didn't you?"

"Renji-kun please calm down."

Renji slitted his eyes and looked over at the blonde who was holding his hands out in a placating manner. "She's your 'senpai', Izuru…. You can't tell me that you don't think this was a set up."

"It wasn't a set up." Yuko cut clean across and took on the ferocity of Renji's glare, before her eyes slipped over to Kyoraku. The man sheltered his head behind the brim of his hat, but the distinct impression of a red dot was already forming on the tip of his ear from where Yuko had pulled at them so she could drag his head down to her height and say something to him in the immediate aftermath of his destruction, before letting Ukitake join the fray. "It was a mistake… On all our parts."

"Jeez," Ikkaku mumbled out again and scratched at the top of his head, as he eyed up the woman with his caustic bite. "Your takin' this awfully calm for the instigator."

"We weren't trying to instigate Madarame-san." Ukitake put out as he took up the mediator role. "We thoug—"

"You thought your could bring her long, lost father to a fucking celebration that she doesn't even want to have in the fucking first place… and things wouldn't go south?" Renji grumbled out and flung his hand out to the tall blonde man who was making a slow inspection of the package that was brutally flung at him. "Give that to me."

"Wa—"

Renji growled slightly as he turned more fully so that he could face the 'father' just to see the blonde man was half-guarding the package with his bony fingers. Renji kept his arm ramrod straight and open. "It's my responsibility from Ayako-san and I'm going to make sure that it gets to the right hands."

"Renji-kun-"

"No!" Finally his last bit of restraint snapped out and he got to his feet to tear the package straight from the man's hands. "I can't do anything because I'm a fukutaicho but as her friend I'm sticking up for her… Like you should be doing, Izuru."

"I understand Renji-kun but this isn't the way to do that." Izuru came to his feet as if it would help to tame the redheaded beast. "Please, just calm down."

"You didn't see it. None of you fuckin' saw her when she was fuckin' sweating and barely functioning… I'm not just going to sit back and let her feel fucking alone!"

Yumichika let out a long sigh and slowly got up to his feet. He took a few calm steps forward with Ikkaku also rising up just over the fifth-seat's shoulder should he be needed to jump in if necessary. The more slender man settled between the glaring battle that was going on between two very different fukutaichos. "Renji really. I get what you're doing but it's also obvious that something went really wrong here. So calm down or Ikkaku and I will force you to."

There seemed to be an instantaneous shudder; not from the wind but the instant chill that was the abrupt departure of good will as the holes were opened up. The captains watched warily for a moment, since they really had no speaking power in the situation. Kensei looked about the only one who would be willing to physically join the fray if fighting did actually break out. Moreover, the silence was blanketed with extreme wariness. It was wariness in not knowing exactly how to fix the problem. Calling commands as captains would only make the entire situation worse, since the conversation had taken on a much more personal tone. They had no room to speak familiarly of the situation since it was clear that they didn't know much about the subject; whether that was the because they were missing details about Natsu's work or hadn't known much about Natsu's state of mind.

Renji looked at the shorter, carefully dressed man before stepping back slightly. His arm was deftly caught by Rukia who was giving him a sympathetic smile. He grunted slightly, letting her lead him back so that he could be seated. Izuru waved slightly where he stood before he quickly managed back into his spot, and underneath the protective shadow of Shuuhei. The tension only broke as Yumichika made his way back to his seat, and the circle of contemplation was reformed.

"To be honest, I'm also very angry," Yumichika stated. The silence didn't pop like it normally would as someone began to speak, but seemed to contort into ugly shapes as it slowly boiled away at the intrusion of words. People shuddered underneath the essence of cold, hard words since they became used to the comfort of the awkward silence. "Ah~ It's going to be so hard to get Natsu to come out drinking with us again, Ikkaku."

Ikkaku huffed slightly and narrowed his eyes down to the ground. "I thought you were going to make some stupid comment about the 'ugly' look on her face."

"That too~ It was disgusting."

"Damn straight," Renji and Testuzaemon grumbled out.

"Wait, wait," Rangiku fluttered out as she pointed her finger over at the seventh division fukutaicho. "I understand Renji, since he spent four months living with her in the human world, but you too?"

"Huh? Of course. Met her in the academy… Just like those two," Iba responded deftly as he pointed over to the eleventh division members with his thumb.

"How many people does she know?" Shuuhei managed out and bit reluctant to intercede on territory he knew nothing about. "I mean I think only Momo and I are the odd ones out."

"Not true." Yumichika shook off the unneeded comment with a flap of his hand. "In fact, I wouldn't say she's really close to anyone. She's been distant for the past forty years given the situation."

"Okay you know what." Kensei jumped into the fray as his quick temper finally got the best of him. "I'll look the dumbass and ask what exactly has she been doing? What the hell is everyone talking about?"

"She transferred in from the kido corps as a spy for Urahara Kisuke on Aizen and his group," Ikkaku put forth with a slow dawdle as he turned to the muscular silver-haired captain.

Yumichika took over right after him. "That was for forty years... And then everything came to light just before the war as you know. She was sent down to Karakura Town with some of us and worked with Urahara. Built the Tenkai Ketchu didn't she?"

"Yeah, that and training up some of her abilities…. Got us to Hueco Mundo afterwards, before going to the front lines," Renji grumbled out as he rolled his eyes at the events. "Then did all this work with the central 46 to clear you guys of the orders on your heads."

The three re-instated captains looked upon one another as if a telecommunicated conversation was trying to transpire. However, Kensei's eyes weren't really looking at the other two by his side, but glaring at the ground right by Shinji's feet with his shoulders hunched and a grimace the size of a canyon on his face. Rose let out a small hum as he shut his eyes, though the normal dreamy look on his face seemed to be covered up by that serious glaze that only overtook him during a fight. The man of hour, Shinji, seemed to deftly curdled himself up tightly as he roughly rubbed at the fringe, something pained coming through the deep furrows on his forehead.

"Well…" Ukitake whispered out and then clapped his hands to shatter what was left of the morose air that proliferated from the three captains before him. "That's it all briefly put. If you want I can catch you guys up a bit later on."

Kensei trailed his eyes over to the still mute blonde. "What the hell is wrong with your daughter, Shinji?"

"W… There's nothin' wrong wit' 'er," Shinji snapped out as he glared down the grumbling man, whose gaze was only heated by an embarrassed glint. Or it could have been a remorseful glint. "Ya jus' don't like tha idea o' bein' 'elped by 'er when ya thought she didn't know anythin'…. Nice ta know she's still got some friends though."

"You're kidding…. She's a pain in the ass," Iba ground out as he knocked back another shot of sake.

"She picked the fourth division," Ikkaku murmured.

Yumichika let out a small huff as he fixed up his hair. "Never listens to any of my comments about beauty."

"She's childish," Renji and Rukia mentioned out together, grimacing automatically as they remembered all the jeering that came from the sidelines and the mock fights she had caused.

"She never does any of her work," Isane whined out softly.

Rangiku tipped forward slightly as she let out a large, "she never wants to go shopping with me."

"I've never managed to get a straight forward answer from her," Izuru finished off with a sad sigh.

The captains moved their eyes one by one over to Shinji after hearing all of the half-hearted complaints that the rest of the members had. The blonde looked around rapidly at the entire group that was watching him. His face fell down into his frown as he scratched at his head. "Ain't ma fault."

Yuko snidely let out from the side, feeling the small snag of Kyoraku's hand around her waist, "no…. She just acts almost exactly like you."

"You really know how to raise them, don't you?" Kensei added on seconds later.

Kyoraku let out a small hum and then chuckled slightly. "It's better than Byakuya as a child though… Doesn't really get angry."

The captains looked at one another before letting out chuckles. Certainly they hadn't all known Natsu since she was a small child; only Unohana, Yuko, and Hiyori had really been the ones to meet her and interact with her when she was a child. Shinji had been protective of her childhood; keeping her at the Kotomi House and visiting her frequently over the years. He wanted her to just be a child, particularly because she was so ill and because it was apparent she would eventually be forced to choose going to the academy. When she was in need of more desparate medical treatment her brought her into the divisions; where every now and again Ukitake and Kyoraku had interacted with her during her stays. Eventually, those trips to the fourth division had also tapered off, particularly when he took in Aizen as a fukutaicho. In some ways, one could say that she was sequestered away; driven off by one of the only living relatives that could care for her. However, Shinji shuddered to even think about all the possibilities that could have occurred had Aizen known about his daughter and he was happy that she hadn't been save from any of the experiments. His own silver lining to the situation.

Over time, the Vizards, safe from the prying ears of a traitorous fukutaicho, got to hear a few stories about her but they were sporadic at best. Shinji seemed to reserve her in the back of his mind, only pulling her out when he was truly safe from the prying eyes that were around him. Perhaps, a paranoid habit that only developed because of his mistrust in the latter years. Should he have been upset that Kisuke dragged her through all of this work? Used her? Did that man manipulate her into helping her because of what he knew about her from when she was a child? But there had been so many benefits. Either way, her attitude now was still a rapid improvement to the angry tot of a boy that had been Kuchiki Byakuya.

"Izuru-kun?" Momo whispered out daringly. It was a bit louder than necessary as she tilted over to the blonde man. "I think you might have to give me some tips."

"I would love to, Hinamori-kun… But I just don't think that's possible," Izuru commented back with his eye shooting over to the still chuckling group of captains that had heard the faux-innocent question.

"Not you too, Momo-chan," Shinji whined out and looked over at the wide blinking eyes of his new lieutenant who looked a bit embarrassed to have used him as a joke so soon. His lips turned slightly up at the corners before he let out a very loud sigh and scratched at his head again. His face just wouldn't come up from the frown that it had found itself in. "It was a mistake ta come 'ere wit'out talkin' ta 'er firs'… Sorry ta interrupt tha evenin' like tha'."

Renji narrowed his eyes and they slithered daringly over at the brown haired captain. "I think… Someone else should also apologize, captain."

The brown haired man blinked a few times as if unaware of which captain Renji was actually referring to and then let out a few whines as Yuko began to pull on his cheek. "Ow, Yuko-chan~… I'll make sure… – Stop, stop - I'll make sure I apologize to her."

"Momo-chan," Shinji called out and got the brunette spiking up. He waved slightly until she was much calmer, which he had a tired feeling he'd be doing for a long time until she was more relaxed. "I'm gonna ask ya not ta get involved in this. Nice ya stickin' up fo' me but it jus' ain't ya place, 'kay?"

"Yes sir."

Shinji gave a slow nod and then looked over at the group of lieutenants and other seats before giving a slight smirk. "I'll make sure ta do ma par' too. So yer jus' gonna 'ave ta keep bein' 'er friends, yeah?"

"Unfortunately," Ikkaku put forth, getting him a hit on the backside of his head from Iba.

* * *

Rangiku turned slightly over as she heard Izuru calling out to her. The party had been just been saved from crash landing after Natsu had jammed the engines named 'fun' and 'light hearted' with her very warranted anger. In the end, the captains easily confessed to their ineptitude for seeing the situation as it was, and in a way that probably saved their own reputations, she supposed. From what it appeared, Natsu had far bigger sway over people's decisions than the wayward medic thought or had ever intended. It was something the woman probably detested so much she'd rather commit sepaku than abuse. 'Too much work', Rangiku could basically hear the woman saying that. They were all, subconsciously, extremely thankful to the complexity that seemed to surround the girl, Rangiku thought, since it just made her that much more trustworthy. Even as the woman tried to set herself out as some sort of horrible person.

None of them wanted to linger around the fields, though, feeling the dying embers and the pain that had been falling around them. It was just too much of a disgrace to continue something that the woman of honor had ran away from like someone was handing her paperwork to do. In a way, the medic had left a more open wound for them to deal with or, perhaps, it was just a more conscious dealing of the remaining pain that was festering in their wounds from the betrayals. But no party could resurrect itself with that feeling that draped heavily along their shoulder.

Izuru came up to her shortly. "Do you mind if I walk with you?"

"Not at all," Rangiku chirped as she easily gestured that they start walking again. "Company's always welcome."

They wandered off further from the disaster site. They let their feet take them away on their own isolated path. Whereas some traveled the path alone from the anger and pain that had been induced, like Shuuhei and Momo, others had gone off together again. Rangiku hadn't paid much attention to who had gone with who, just that some groups were going together and other's not so much. It would take time before people could walk together again, or for others to follow after new people. These two fukutaichos, however, were intertwined only by their individual memories of the same betrayal by the same man and the same woman that had shown them the truth. The links in the chain were slowly closing as they came to understand the history of events, but the other would remain a complete mystery. How would they ever be able to understand why someone would do what they've done?

"I once thought that Natsu wasn't similar at all to me," Izuru whispered out finally as he clenched down onto his one dangling arm. "She's always been so… She's always appeared like she never cared much for the Gotei 13 or for the captains."

Rangiku let out a small hum as she looked at the blonde by her side. It was true that Natsu was like that. She had been more approachable during the academy when Rangiku had actually seen the woman looking well rested. She had never had the same sense of duty but there was a certain peace with it. When had people ever had the same sense or goals? Everyone in the academy was free to do and think as they pleased, so long as they followed the rules. Then again, Natsu's sense was probably more distorted than most. After all, the goal for her had always been the Kido Corps and that had to mean something. It appeared that whatever balm Natsu had given to her wounds back then, since Rangiku had to assume she knew something about her father then too, disappeared when she came back from the Kido Corps and had joined the ranks of the Gotei 13.

It wasn't a different person that had re-entered the scene after the Kido Corps. Just a new person with only faint whispers of the same relaxed woman. There had been an immediate distancing though it was so subtle. Just as everything she had done. Faint warnings, casual calls, and vague wordings to point to her true meanings with her ever present relaxed manner to casually watch over everything that was going on. It was really hard to pick up on, and it wasn't a surprise that Izuru had missed it altogether since he hadn't known Natsu in the academy days. The rest had seen it though; choosing to never make a comment about it since stuff like that just happens. Who knows what had happened when she was part of the Kido Corps.

"But it's because she chose her captain a long time ago, isn't it, Rangiku-san? - There was only one person she would have called captain."

Rangiku sighed out slightly from her nose, her eyes closing just a tad as she considered the words. "I think… That's probably why she understood us so well these past couple months."

"Yeah - I wish... I really wish I knew her better so that I could help her now."

Rangiku couldn't help but smile at the pure sincerity in Izuru's word and the long coating of misery there and along his face. Natsu had them at arm's length for forty years. Yumichika and Ikkaku were probably the only two that didn't have to think twice about it, though if she thought about it even that relationship had been strained over the years. They themselves had even mentioned that Natsu hadn't been the same as what they remembered. It was impossible, however, for her not to have imbedded something of herself in the people around her. It was the only reason why they had all chosen to forgive her and accept her nonetheless.

"I'd say she'd rather us all buck up," Rangiku put forth and smiled at the slowly blinking blue eye who grew a bit more worried. "Besides, we can't help her. Just like she couldn't really help us."

* * *

Natsu was clearing out one of the rooms so that it could be completely wiped down. The fourth division did this after every single patient so as to not have a bacterial build up, but often times, it wasn't Natsu who was required to do these operations. This is what came with being negligent to your work load did. With her moving back and forth between the hallway and the room, when she had spotted him. She blinked slightly at the brown haired captain that had come wandering through the hallways. Her eyes had narrowed for just a moment before she continued on with her work. She suppressed quickly anything that could have her thinking back about the previous evening.

Her heart was still a tightly sewed up pocket barely beating within the caverns of the cloth that she had wrapped it up in tight. She scrubbed down a bit harder onto the bed frame, ducking her hand down rapidly into the water and then pulling the brush back up. She paid little mind to the soapy water that slopped over the brim of the bucket and onto her feet as she slapped the brush back over to the bed and scrubbed. In fact she was barely conscious of the new wetness around her. Her body didn't feel like her own. As if she was moving by the hands of a laughing puppeteer, she couldn't get her body to do what she wanted. Everything felt jerky in her own body as she wrangled to get it to move every single time, instead of following the lines that connected her to the mocking man conducting her. It had been months since she felt rested and had not had acid running through her veins. She was jerky. She needed sleep. She just needed her reiryoku to stop playing its game of stabbing hide and seek as it reached high points and ultimate low points.

"Whatta ya wan' cap?" she finally questioned since he hadn't moved from the doorway in the past few minutes and had made no movement to say anything. A quick glance over her shoulder saw him gently leaning against the post with his arms gently crossed. "Ain't no fun watchin' me do work."

"Natsu-chan is working so hard," Kyoraku sung out. "It's very cute."

She let out a long sigh and dumped the scrub down onto the frame of the bed as she turned around. Harshly she sprung her hands free from the gloves that she had been wearing, leaving faint red marks from the rapidity of the movement. "Whatta ya wan'?"

Brown eyes blinked at her and for the first time they were clear of the hat and shadows that obstructed his gaze. They seemed keen as they took in her position and finally the smile dropped from his face. Before her was a straight-laced man whose eyes gently tucked at the sides and let out a deep sigh from lips contorted to face downwards. He did nothing to fix his posture, though in some way it had mellowed out to something a bit darker.

"I just came to apologize…. I don't really like the fact that Natsu-chan got so hurt."

"Wha'eva." She flapped her hand slightly. "So ya can go now."

"But you haven't forgiven me, Natsu-chan~"

Natsu wrangled the twitch in her mouth but she did nothing to stop herself from glaring at him. "Ya forgiven… Ya can go now."

"Somehow I just don't believe that," Kyoraku swung out drearily as he uncrossed his arms. "It seems you're very angry at me."

"Yer forgiven," Natsu spat out as slow as she could make each word.

"What is going on here?"

Natsu threw her gaze over to Unohana who was peering in half questioningly behind Kyoraku's side. The other man jumped just slightly and he immediately fluttered into a small explanation of the situation to subdue his own panic and so as to not upset the lady. Blue eyes switched between the two of them while the captain's head went up and down every once and a while to show her understanding of the situation.

She let out another hum and then smiled just slightly up at Kyoraku. "You should excuse us Shunsui-san. If you don't believe yourself forgiven then you can come back at another time."

"Very well~." He slid that smile back along his face with his immediate agreement and then waved as pleasantly as possible. "I'll see you later Natsu-chan."

Natsu grimaced just slightly and then flung her head over to the side. Her hands found place in her pockets. Off to the side, she made out the sounds of door clicking shut but she remained fashioned on the off white walls that were the room. The brightness from the sun streaming into the room bounced from the walls. She squinted down at the intense glare of light as she continued her adamant stare even with the sounds of the captain's foot steps coming closer. Her lips tugged just that much more downwards when she realized that the captain had no thought of turning around. The faint call from the older woman, and a quick glance told her, that anything less than compliance would not be tolerated. Natsu let out a long sigh as she turned her head straight to the woman who was commandeering the conversation from where the old man captain had stopped days ago. Weeks ago, actually.

"I thought it might eventually hit you. It's a bit earlier than I anticipated," the woman let out a slowly with just that sympathy in her tone. "I heard all about last night from Isane-san."

"Great."

The woman narrowed her eyes just slightly but quickly they opened up again. "I can understand that this is hard for you but pl-"

"Don't give me tha promotion." Natsu found herself spewing out suddenly as her head fell down to take in the floor. "You 'ave ta understand. I don't wan' tha promotion."

There was a small beat as if the woman would actually consider her words. Natsu, knew though, from the hardness of her own heart which felt no hope from the silence and the patter in her veins that was the only thing keeping her living, that it was impossible for her request to be fulfilled. She had already reasoned everything out for herself, and yet theory had given her nothing but a revolting stomach and twisted innards.

"I can't do that."

"Why?"

"Because you're too useful. You make the Gotei 13 more powerful."

Natsu shut her eyes to the proclamation that she knew was coming. There was no way to avoid it because from every angle she looked at the problem from, it always came down to that one point. No matter how much Unohana might have, or might not have, cared for Natsu personally, there was only one reason that the captain had for keeping Natsu here against her wishes. It was because she was damnedly powerful, and the only reason she had even bothered to go to the academy in the first place was because she already knew that. She had needed to be able to control some aspect of her power to simply live.

"I hate the Gotei 13," Natsu finally whispered out leaving them to dump along the ground. She didn't know if she really wanted those words to consume them both, but it might have been a good way to go. "I 'ate tha Gotei 13 an' all shinigami."

"I've understood that deep down in your heart you've been alone all this while, and that you have felt alone... And that you've hated the Gotei 13."

Natsu gave a small nod. Unohana had been, of course, the first to recognize her when she had stepped into the fourth division forty years ago. In fact, it had probably been the only person in the entirety of the remaining Gotei 13 who knew anything at first. Why would anyone remember her? She was just a whisper of a past that people wanted to forget. When the two women had met, it had been nothing more than a continuous stare between one another. Then there was a gentle smile that hid the sudden understanding as they re-introduced themselves to start what was to become a very long game.

It was a secret accord between the two of them and half the reason why the captain allowed for her negligent behaviour most of the time. Even if the details were never spoke, even if the true reason wasn't fleshed out, the captain had always known. Known that here was nothing that was truly keeping her here except for an obscured goal at the end of the tunnel. There was no other reason that she would join the Gotei 13 otherwise, because there wasn't anything for her to do here when her heart wasn't meant to be apart of the system in the first place.

"I'm not asking you to get rid of your hatred," Unohana put out again, softly to try and tip Natsu's head up. It worked just moments later when Natsu raised her radically freckled eyes to stare at the murky, blue depths. "I'm asking you to bare it."

"It'll kill me one day."

"It kills us all."

Natsu let out a weak chuckle and the grimaced. It was childish but her brain could only wrap around that one question. "Why don't I ge' a chance at livin'?"

"Because you are a useful tool, and no tool every gets to sit on the shelf and collect dust," Unohana explained slowly but not to a child. It was to an entirely too exhausted, but not yet dulled out tool; the woman that Natsu tried to not be, but inherently was.

Natsu let out a small groan clenching down onto the fabrics around her stomach. "Sucks."

* * *

 **A/N: Readers... Guys and gals, there's only one chapter left. I'm half considering delaying for the simply reason that then I'm done with Natsu and her weird, twisted malarky and her attitude... Well, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Let me know your thoughts, especially now that everything is wrapping up. It really helps me improve as a writer and I appreciate hearing from you all.**

 **Thank you!**


	53. Chapter 52

Natsu finally suckered time off from her captain. Actually, it was more forced upon her as her reiryoku decided to act up two days later. She had been with both Isane and Unohana, who were trying to corner her into doing paperwork, when it had let out a really big flare. The captain, of course, immediately was walking her back to the room, chiding that she should have been doing more to take care of her constitution instead of trying to escape responsibilities which she inevitably had to do anyway. Natsu groaned at the turn around in the woman who always found a way to link everything to work and duty, and then had collapsed into her bed with what should have been much needed pleasure. Instead, the symptoms came like a freight train and rammed into her body like it knew it could indulge itself because she was safe enough in the confines of her room.

The medical seals that she had on since she was a child had remained off, Natsu realized belatedly over the groans she let out in the safety in her room. They hadn't really done much other than decreasing the amount of reiatsu that could be fully realized at one time at some points during her growth. However, the more she released the more likely it was for her reiryoku to spike up thereby making the seals moot. War was always conducive for that. She had then spent three months being practically catatonic with papers, many thanks to her devotion to the courts, and no actual activity and had to actively suppress her reiryoku from growing at points. Then her emotions feeding into her own body and not really maintaining herself with poor amounts of sleep kept her reiatsu pushing up, and now it had finally spluttered out.

She would have laughed at the irony of dealing with the obvious sign that she wasn't okay with the situation that Seireitei was in. After all it had only been vindictiveness that had kept her moving forward. Vindictive because this allowed Natsu to show how wrong the Gotei 13 and to rip the carpet from underneath their legs and see the disbelief painted on their faces while they were watching the society they built up crash. Vindictive because her life got ruined just as much, though she would never let her heart fully admit that, and now they could all suffer with her. Vindictive because now she was helping them rebuild with the souls that they had thrown out.

She knew it was petty. It was childish to thrust it all back in their faces like that. In turn, though, she was killing a part of herself as well; the part that was vindictive. Maybe this moment was just the sickness of emotion draining out of her and her body ridding herself of the toxic waste that had coagulated in her veins. Somewhere Natsu still knew that there'd be no coming back at all. It wasn't going to be like the dreams that she adored. There was no wondrous fifth division or a golden haired captain that could forever live under the sun and protect her. So she could feel the way the lather of toxicity remained building up in her body. She only grew vindictive again about the pain that she was going to suffer for everyone else all over again.

 _Petty._ She abruptly laughed, hacking out the words from the edge of her lips as it circled around her head. Who was she to say that she was solving things for people? Who was she to say she gave up anything for everyone else? _Petty._

 _Hush, child._

Had it not be for the grueling amounts of pain, she probably would have noticed it all. Yet there she was curled up in her bed with copious amounts of sweat to drown her. Black smog surged out of her lungs through her mouth like endless streams of flesh eating parasites that had grown too big and needed exodus. With them leaving her body, she was no more than a dried out carcass. She was sure in her delirious state that her limbs had withered away like all water was taken from her body and that the faint pumps of her heart were what was she was imagining. Some part of her missed the full feeling that was now leaking from her, trailing out from her pores and onto the sheets around her; even if it made her full of sludge and tar.

Her eyes came to a bleary blink as she shifted around. It took her a long moment to realize that she was in her bed, that they were her sheets, and that her body hadn't killed itself. Her reiryoku was still flaring in indignant fits, but her brain had enough sensibility again. Her fingers tripped a bit over the bed taking in the crispness of the sheets and the small scent of detergent.

 _Some'ne's been changin' tha sheets._

 _Welcome back, Natsu._

 _… Thanks. I guess._

 _It's been five days._

 _Tha'… Sucks._

Natsu blinked her eyes open again as her eyes slowly traveled around the room she was in. There was a small stream of light which she made out from the pattern along the floor. Her eyes began to cross as they traveled too far down and she pushed her head down a bit more firmly into the pillow as she switched her position to look better at the room. Even that small twitch sent a large coughing fit through her and she felt the pound as her chest kept pressing further into the mattress, as if it was trying to break the frame of the bed.

Something warm came along her back and patted as best it could, and then began to rub down on the hot skin with an easy pressure. Her eyes came open, ones which had shut during the pain of her coughs, and took in the spirals of black smoke that were leaving her as her coughs turned to small chuffs. It was almost what she imagined a dragon would have sounded like as it snuffed out the fire from its lungs. Her eyes finally swooped down to see that Ayako and come in sometime during the disturbance. It could have been at anytime. She had been out for five days. Or maybe the woman had just recently found her during her latest coughing fit. All her senses were completely shut down and then the coughing had completely overlapped all her hearing at the end. Yet there were the worried blue-purple eyes looking at her.

 _She's been coming for the past four days... I assumed that Unohana told her about the situation._

"I'm glad you're at least conscious," Ayako whispered while she continued her rubbing; the edge of her palm rubbing deeply into a spot on the ribs. "It was a pretty bad attack."

Natsu groaned out and let another attack rest in her chest as she spoke, "ya 'ere?"

Her cough came back with a vengeance for being suppressed with her words and she rolled just slightly to her side so that she was just partially on her ribs. The opening of her chest, to let more air through and cool off the skin there, did nothing but part ways for another strong set of coughs. Her hands moved under her pillow and she clutched down onto it as her body began to wave with the force. She planted her nose into the fabric and tilted onto her forehead more; the coldness of the sheets only lasting momentarily as her sweat sweltered and soaked through the fabric. She heaved out as much as she could as her body jerked, and finally a tiny tremble left her lips as the coughing just wouldn't end.

Ayako continued as best she could with her hand, though they both knew it relieved no pressure. Finally, Natsu settled back down onto the mattress and turned her head back up to the woman. She didn't even attempt to cover up the exhaustion, as she barely was able to keep her eyes on the beauty that was her mentor. The woman gave a weak smile which didn't even reach her eyes, and let out a small hum with her continuing ministrations.

"I heard about what happened during your get together from Renji-kun." Ayako breathed out and promptly rolled her eyes. "Did you honestly think that would stop me from making sure you were alright? After all, if they've forgiven you why wouldn't I?"

Natsu teetered her eyes away with her lips just about open to respond when there was a faint knock on the door. Ayako let slip a few curses and moved to get up and to the door in a swift movement. It had been so swift that Natsu could still make out the tingle of hands along her back even though the movement was gone. Natsu slowly turned over to see what had the woman angered, since she never cursed anyone; reprimanded yes, but never cursed. The woman must have really wanted a moment to say something, so Natsu wasn't sure if she was grateful for the disturbance or worried about how Ayako would be after the intrusion.

At first, all she could see was Ayako standing up and the tautness of her back from her arms most likely being crossed tightly over her chest. Natsu's eyes narrowed as she moved a bit further up to see if she could recognize the intruder by the head since almost everyone towered over the shorter woman. She made out the bob-cut of blonde and then the brown eyes that were already shifting over to her; cutting through the hairs on her mentor's head. Natsu's arms weakling pushed herself up until she really could make out the white haori that he was wearing around his body, and the strange neck piece that he had put on which disappeared into the folds of a regular shihakusho.

"No," Natsu rushed out as she was pushing to move out of the bed. "Get out."

Ayako twisted back furiously and tried to keep Natsu from getting off of the mattress. Natsu moved onto her legs regardless of the loose wrap of the woman's arm and made do with trying to gently maneuver around the gentle hold. Her eyes locked on with a fierceness of her prey as she stood up shakily. His body never moved as he calmly allowed her to move into his space with her fawn like steps. She tore through the blood rush and the dizziness as she flung over at him with her teeth bared out.

"Get out."

"Tha' ain't happenin' so pick somethin' else." She gripped onto his haori as he spoke out the words calmly but definitively. He remained firmly fastened to the ground as she tried to get him to move with her faint pushes, but kami did she try to put all of her energy into them. Her limbs were already shaking from just being up in the air. "I'm 'ere ta make sure ya ain't killin' yaself anymore."

Natsu gritted her teeth as she shoved her whole body up against him. "Yer not 'llowed 'ere. Get out."

"I'm not going."

"I's ma room. Go."

"I'm not."

Natsu jerked in the air too quickly and her lungs spluttered into real life with the raw heat of her reiryoku like how a tree catches fire with a bolt of lightening leading to the whole forest burning down in mere minutes. She bent over as she tried to collect in enough air as she fell into another coughing fit. She waved backwards, her fingers loosening from his haori, as she tried a new way to stand in her weakness. There were sounds of people moving and she was collected into soft hands. Her knees collapsed beneath her as she was put on the bed again, and she teetered to her side to clench up into a ball.

She squeezed her eyes as tightly as possible until she found herself seeing spots. Something dragged along her forehead, soft and cold and wonderful, but it was only a momentary catch for the heat that came spiraling out again milliseconds after whatever had swiped it away in the first place. She felt weighed down, letting herself sink wherever she had been placed, with the water she was exuded as it coated over her skin quickly and dried out with the heat inside her until she wasn't sure she really had anything to move anymore.

"The window." Natsu made out under the fog of her recent attack, even as Ayako's hands were still trying to place sodden clothes along her skin. "Natsu you're forgetting to breath."

"Le' me." Natsu let out a very feeble protest from the start of memories, but the hands gripped onto her tightly. "I'm jus' movin' ya. Cal' down."

Her hand flung out as best she could. Her lips let out another tremble as she successfully caught onto the fabric which sunk in deep between her fingers, with her nails snatching the soft cotton boldly into her grip. She huffed out breathes through her nose and when she had built up enough energy she gave her best push. The hands remained ever fastened to her, and she was moved back to her pillow, even as she kept trying to push. Something of a whine left her mouth as she added her second hand to get him to stop, because her brain was already going into overload with the smell of cinnamon so close and the gentle hug of his reiatsu.

"G… Ge-t off."

"Yer holdin' ta me."

The air collided in her chest and she let out a small sob from the tiny consciousness she had to process what he was saying. She just couldn't rip her hand away because it was the fabric she had known so well; whether it was black sinking into her own pale skin, or white hanging over her head when she cuddled it close to her body. The reiatsu, that smelled so strongly of cinnamon, trying to calm her own as it flickered on and off in the chest that she had dumped her head on during her fits as a child. She would press her nose further into that bony but warm skin to just get more drags of the smell of cinnamon. Thin fingers which raked up and down her back, with some pats at times, in his own unique hug that now gripped onto her shoulders instead.

Her eyes roved up to the face just with the twitches of her eyes and the brown eyes that were watching her steadily. Instead of the chesire grin that had would have greeted her as a child, never letting on to something going wrong, it was replaced with nothing more than a serious face. Her head yanked down and she found another quiet sob leaving her trembling lips. She breathed it out slowly as she tipped her head back feeling something preventing her skull from moving too far back. The angle was nice enough, though, to feel the drain of smoke leaving the immanent spot in her throat. Her body rocked as her grinding teeth stifled everything that she could still contain within her body.

"Ya couldn'… Ya couldn' jus' give me one place," she whispered out with her fingers slowly slipping away from the man in her memories.

He moved back instantly and away from her childish wanderings. Her eyes narrowed down at her lap, realizing that she was actually up against her head board instead of curdling into different segments around her own pillow. She slowly lifted up her head with a dreaded wariness that she knew would truly hit her instantly as she looked at his figure again. Her eyes burned at the image and she knew that tears were just about visible from the way her lids felt heavy.

"Ya 'ave everywhere else… I couldn't jus' get one place? One person tha' ain't touched by ya?"

Shinji let out a small sigh and shifted in the chair that had been set there for him to use during the skirmish. He flickered his gaze up towards the woman who was observing the scene with a withheld frustration and sadness, arms firmly planted over her chest as those purple-blue eyes penetrated the situation. His brown eyes fell back down on the girl's sodden eyes which reflected the crumbling infrastructure of her mental state. The flecked eyes were wider as they stared up at him again for the second time in over one hundred years. This time they were not wide due to awe and cheer, or even in anger, but to make sure she wouldn't blink and send the tears along her cheeks. He couldn't help but overlay the cheery image that had helped him during his expulsion with the girl in front of him.

"Yer ma daughta," he let out slowly and saw the hardness crawl through her eyes instantaneously. He ducked his head with a damp smirk, though he made sure to maintain eye contact with the girl. "I ain't much o' a fatha though. Jeez - What kinda dad le's 'is daughta save 'im? Ma pride's completely crushed ya know?"

"Y—"

"I failed. Completely," Shinji murmured as he leaned just that much forward toward the shipwrecked girl. "Yer ma daughta, but I ain't ya fatha anymore. I jus'… I jus' 'eard an' I wanted ta make sure ya were okay."

Natsu looked down at her lap with a grimace on her face. Her eyes finally fell shut and the few tears fell over, silently cursing her with the pangs of her lungs as they clenched and unclenched to keep her pain no louder than a small 'plop' as a tear fell onto her bedsheets. The man by her bedside stayed absolutely quiet at the small drops. A few even leaked over around the sides of her nose and spread out just under her eyes, but no one made a comment as they slowly disappeared under the heat of her body. The only evidence left was her blinking furiously as she tried to get rid the feeling of soggy eyes.

Her lips trembled slightly again as her heart gave voice to the dark whispers. "Ya shoulda stayed dead."

"I know," he whispered out. "Ya probably had it all sorted wit' 'ow ya were doin' in the kido corps. A new dream, righ'? Ma bein' dead was easier on ya."

"Kisuke destroyed ma life."

"'Eard tha' too… 'Cause 'e got ya ta 'elp out an' ya 'ad ta join tha Gotei 13, which ya came ta 'ate 'cause wha' I did an' wha' I represented."

Natsu chewed on her lip gnawing into it. Her eyes slowly slated up toward the man who was watching her with cooled brown eyes. His mouth was devoid of his chesire grin that she knew much better, and he waited for her next sentence with a begrudging ease. He waited like he hadn't still been able to read her mind, and read her entire being within seconds. She wanted that grin to be there just to rip it from his face at his parental 'know-it-all' moment that he was so used to having, but there was nothing there to rip away anymore. Who stole that moment from her? Her mouth opened up and his eyes gently flickered toward to the next drag that she would let out, and then she shut it. A grimace drew harshly along her lips instead and she shut down whatever anger wanted to filter through her system.

He let out another sigh and his fingers took a small moment to drift somewhere in the air by his legs. It was a tantalizing rhythm that used to play along her back. All her memories really consisted of him holding her in some way. Touches to the head and to the back whenever she was dozing on him or in the wakes of her fits. Strong fingers lifting her up from the ground or tapping to jazz music. It was all still embodied in him and his long fingers; every single ghost of a touch.

"I ruined ya dream," he mumbled out and Natsu found her eyes on his serious face which appraised her a new. "Wha' was it exactly? A dynasty o' Hirakos running tha fifth division was it?"

Natsu found a soggy chuckle leaving her lips and she got a brief glimpse at a smirk. "Ya bein' a boke… Ain't neva said tha'."

"Oh yeah ya did… Got ever'one ya met to 'elp ya do it to." Shinji suddenly tipped back and hooked around to stare at a slightly confused Ayako who didn't know what to make of the change in topic. "She was cute back then, ya know? - Forcin' people ta give 'er promises 'bout keepin' me safe 'til she could be ma fukutaicho. Though' I 'ad no idea eitha, an' go 'bout whisperin' at tha top o' 'er lungs."

"Rabid midget monkey 'ad lots ta say 'bout tha'," Natsu murmured slightly as she sunk down into the bed and let her ragged body lay down.

Shinji let out a small snicker and grinned suddenly at her, causing a small intake of breath and a near heart attack from her. "I'm gonna 'ave ta steal tha ya know? 'Er reactions are priceless."

"Make up ya own stuff, ol' man," Natsu grumbled back as she tried to recover from the newly painted over memories. She hadn't searched down those roads in a while, leaving them faded and soggy in the cabinets of her brain's memory, but as he dragged them out it felt like the old cloak she used to wear as a child. Yet, different. Hearing it from his perspective was different. "I see ya goin' bald."

"Wha?" Shinji let out a small screech as he tugged up some of his hairs. "I cut it 'cause I didn't 'ave ya beggin' me ta grow it out… Ain't even close ta bein' bald o' ol'."

"Natsu." Her eyes flickered over to Ayako who was making the small trip forward. "Let me change your pillow before you go back to sleep."

"Ya really makin' Ayako-chan d-" Shinji's cheek twisted instantly in Ayako's small hands as Natsu blinked at the sight. The mentor was really doing it harshly, and she made out the red that was blooming as the skin of his cheek smacked back to his jaw. "Got it… Jeez, bit 'arsh?"

"If it works on Natsu then it'll work on you too… I'm glad I took the risk to find out," Ayako muttered out and then sent Natsu a small wink before she was whisking away with the pillow to the other side of the room.

"I'mma Kotomi." Natsu rang out, with her gaze on Ayako who didn't make one pause as she was fixing the pillow. The woman looked at her, her brows furrowed in confusion, but nodded none-the-less at the address that was aimed at her.

Shinji looked at her for a moment as her gaze returned to him as he rubbed down at his cheek. The words may have been met for Ayako first but they were for him as well. "Yeah… Think ya woodworkin' proves tha'. - Honestly tryin' ta pass tha' off 'as bein' stuck in a closet wit'out bein' properly cared fo'."

"Wha'eva."

"Ya used ta be so cute," he grumbled out and she promptly turned over to show her back.

She settled awkwardly onto the sheets that were cold from the damp that had been left on them, but were quickly warming, and her neck practically clicked as she tried to settle it somewhere without the help of a pillow to cushion it. There was the sound of a screech of a chair, just a moment after she seemed to settle, and she knew he had taken it as a dismissal, since the chair was probably being moved back to its place. There was the sound of feet moving, and the gentle brush along her shoulder. Her eyes flickered to the feminine fingers and she strained her neck slightly. The pillow was pushed beneath her head and she snuggled down into it. Only now could she feel how wet the other had been. Not that the dryness would last long on this one either.

"Natsu." She shifted just slightly at the sound of his voice speaking up again. "I jus' wanted ta tell ya tha'… Even though ma pride's down tha toilet wit' all tha stuff ya've done fo' us, I'm still proud o' ya. 'An tha's not comin' from me as a captain, but as a fatha. I know it probably don't mean much but I'm glad an' I'm fuckin' proud ya got yer promotion."

Natsu scrunched her eyes shut, just imagining the way his face looked as he said those words, with her body slowly curling up into a tight ball. The ticklish glide of tears along her face came back as she pushed them out as forcefully as possible. Her back twisted up to control the trembles going over her in rolling waves. She made out the small clank of the door closing again behind the two visitors, so that she could officially get back to sleep, and everything unraveled with her back popping under the strain. She let out a small heave and barricaded the sounds with the one pillow she had as she smooshed her face down.

Outside the door, Shinji pressed down lightly on the wood before pushing away completely. He scratched the top of his head and rearranged the hairs. He pressed his lips together firmly as he mushed them in contemplation before drawing them apart with a small sigh. His fingers moved along his face even though he knew he wouldn't get the smirk back up just yet; it was just a small momentary illusion that he could bring up the mask.

"It went better than I anticipated… Although you couldn't wait outside for a bit longer, Hirako-taicho?" Ayako put forth as she walked along side him as they both exited the fourth division.

Shinji slid his gaze over to her. "I ain't very good at listenin' ta ordas."

"It was a request."

"Same thin'," he trolled the words out with a small piece of his tongue poking out. He stuffed it back in seconds later and pushed his hands into his pockets with a subdued chuckle. "'Ow many times ya seen tha' act?"

"A million and one." Ayako chuckled instantly.

Shinji found a small grin coming along his features, though it came with a bitter pang to his heart. He had abandoned a small girl and missed out on every single thing she had accomplished. She was a good girl and he was proud, but she had taken on his own act and it had killed part of her. It was the final thing he was certain about, as her father. He should have said something about those damn promises that she went around making, got her to be more independent, but she was just adorable when she asked. Her tiny finger tucked up by her lips to shush people from talking to loudly and her big, gleaming eyes sparking with joy as she told Kisuke or Yuko or whoever would listen that she would protect her dad.

If he had known he would have tried to get her to be less reliant on him, but what father crushes his daughter's dreams before they had even formulated? Wasn't it more important to show that he had support for whatever she wanted to do? He breathed deeply as he remembered all the worries he had about raising her in the first place. He hadn't known a damn thing about navigating this. Old-man Kotomi had said it was a phase. It would disappear as their relationship grew more equal. Just let her have her dream and it'll change as she grew older and more independent; less centered on him and more focused on herself. It was natural that she was inspired to be like him. But look at what it had made her.

"'Ow'd Natsu meet a cutie like ya, anyway?" Shinji murmured out to get out of the darker thoughts he'd deal with much later on.

Ayako gave him a small side glance with a tiny quiver at the top of her lips before she bit back the chuckles. He raised an eyebrow at that but she merely shook her head and answered his question. "It was just after her transfer from the Kido Corps. Took forever to understand her attitude. I see where she gets it from."

"She stole ma act," Shinji grumbled out and hunched down a bit more with his hands digging in deeply in the pockets. "An' she says I can't steal 'er insults."

Ayako only let out another small chuckle and he peered at it. He supposed she must have really gotten used to the petulance from Natsu. She looked much too comfortable with the situation and how he was reacting. He found himself straightening out somewhat and sliding into something a stronger upright walk.

"Ayako-chan." Her eyes traveled up to him and the smile instantly wiped from her face as she tried to peer around for clues in his features. "I really 'ate ta say this, 'cause ya really are very cute… But ya can't be 'round me too much. Natsu won't take it well."

Ayako opened her mouth several times and then opted for, "it was an act?"

"No…. Wasn't fake wha' ya saw. Jus' very subtle." His head moved slightly and he gave his best attempt at a genuine smile. "I's a truce fo' now… I really was a bad fatha. Didn't know wha' I was doin' 'alf tha time an' then towards tha end I was goin' wit'out seein' 'er for weeks som'times 'cause I was worried 'bout Aizen. There's lots built up between us. I don't wan'cha gettin' caught up in it."

"Are you sure you aren't over thinking this?" Ayako queried softly.

Shinji nodded and then let out a hollow laugh. "Yeah… She's gonna need ya fo' a while yet 'fore she can really stand me but so long as I play it righ' there won't be anymore tantrums."

"I was going to take her side anyway."

"Che… Tha's a bit cruel. Ya didn't 'ave ta put it like tha'," Shinji murmured as he patted at his chest letting a few laughs get into the tense situation so as to ease it back down to more neutral territory. "Aizen really screwed up lots a people an' -"

"Take a while to heal. Yes, I'm aware," Ayako cut through as she waved him slightly off from explaining everything. Her purple-blue eyes locked with his own with a vengeance and he found a finger pointed in his face. "Just remember that you are her father. I'm going to run you clean through if I find out you're hurting her, whether that's by avoiding her or by manipulating her."

Shinji gulped at the intensity the short woman was exuding off and gave a quick nod. She was not just playing mama bear anymore. "Got it… Didn't 'ave any plans o' doin' tha' but 'eard ya loud an' clear."

"Great," Ayako mimicked her only student and then began walking off. "Maybe one day she'll tell you the story about the sun."

Shinji blinked at the figure of the woman and then stuck a finger into his ear. "Che… Still spoutin' tha' stuff is she?"

"Well, some things can't change that much," Ayako called out from the distance and then disappeared back to her division.

Shinji opened his mouth to argue and let out a long grumble as he realized he was now alone with the woman having flash-stepped away. He'd be arguing with the open air if he continued and he didn't need to garner any more crazy looks from people as they got used to his presence in Seireitei. His feet begrudgingly took him back to his own division, since even he knew that slacking work at this point in time would just mean chaos later on. He grumbled some more about it, as he slouched down. His eyes slowly trailed up at the sun which was slightly covered up with the clouds that were running in the sky.

Natsu had always been obsessed with the burning, gaseous object, since apparently the rays, in her eyes, matched the color of his hair. Almost as soon as she was speaking, with her limited vocabulary she was still able to babble about how alike he was to the object. There was a hidden amount of tremendous love, and an outright embarrassment to the allusion when in front of Kotomi-jii, for meaning something that important to her. After all, the sun gave life to the world in its own way and it helped monsters disappear back into the shadows.

He grimaced slightly and swung his head back down. He'd pretend he hadn't heard that last sob on her lips as the door had closed, locking himself from her room for the first time. But not the last. He let out a long sigh which had his entire body sagging under the weight. "Fuck."

* * *

 **Fin**

 **A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, this is the end of _Dynasty_.**

 **I don't want to ramble too much, since sometimes I don't think that's always appreciated by readers, but I hope you give me some space to do so. I'm a bit shocked that this is over now. I feel like I put a lot of time and effort into making Natsu the way she is and it's done. All 52 chapters are done. And it's 52 chapters! When I looked back on it after finishing the first draft, I was stupefied, and now finishing with the publishing of said story, I'm once again at a loss.** **I never imagined _Dynasty_ going on for this long, let alone building up a small following of readers who have come back every week.**

 **Natsu has reached the end of her journey and, honestly, I don't know if there will be a sequel for her. With that in mind,** **I hope that I've conveyed everything that I sought to do through this story. I hope that Natsu was honest and relatable and not Mary Sue. I hope that this was about a family and about a war - internal and external. I can only hope since it's up to you, as readers, to let me know if she was untrue or things didn't go as you saw them going.**

 **Having written two _Bleach_ stories now, I have so many thanks to give to you all, my readers. Thank you so much! I really do appreciate all the support you've given me. Although, it may be a humble community, I'm already blown away. Whether that's through actively reaching out through reviews/comments or just by continuing to come back each week and reading, thank you for being receptive. If you started with me in _Building a Home_ then I only have more thanks to give you as someone who has stuck through over 100 chapters of amateur writing.**

 **I also have many thanks to give to Tite Kubo who's the original and one true mastermind of _Bleach_. His story is obviously an inspiration to many of us, otherwise why would we be here, and I wouldn't have found any fire to keep writing if I didn't feel compelled by the world that he created. He's never going to read this, but I thank him nonetheless for his work. **

**Repeating myself for the last time:**

 **Ladies and gentlemen, this is the end of _Dynasty_. **

**Please leave any comments/reviews/questions/queries/or just say 'hi'. I love hearing from all of you. After all, a writer can only be a writer if there are people to read their work.** **The Urahara Kisuke story is still in the works, at the moment, so also please let me know if there is any interest in reading that.**

 **Thanks!**


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